4;/: 


t'< 


*'  /1 1 


I 


<.  COVRISE! 


OF 


POPULAR    liECTURESi 


AS  DELIVERED  BY 


FRANCES  WRIGHT, 


IN  NBW-YOHK,  PHILADELPHIA,  BALTIMOSE,  BOSTON,  CINCINNATI, 

ST.  LOUIS,  LOUISVILLE,  AND  OTHEH  CITIES,  TOWNS,  AND 

DISTRICTS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


WITH 

THREE    ADDRESSES, 

VARIOUS  PUBLIC  OCCASIONS. 

AND  A  REPLY  TO  THE  CHARGES  AGAINST  THE  FRENCH 
REFORMERS  OF  1789. 


SECOND  EDITION. 


NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED  AT  THE  OFriCB  OF  THE  FREE  ENftUIREH,  HALL  OP  SCIENCE, 


BROOME-STUEET. 

% 


1829. 


Souihem  District  of  Netc-York,  ss. 

Be  it  bemkmbered,  That  on  the  8th  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1829,  in 
the  fifty-fourth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
Frances  Wkight,  of  the  said  District,  hath  deposited  in  this  office  the 
title  of  a  book,  the  right  whereof  she  claims  as  author,  in  the  words  fol- 
lowing-, to  wit: — 

"  Course  of  Popular  Lectures,  as  delivered  by  Frances  Wrig-ht,  in  New- 
York,  Philadelpnia,  Baltimore,  Boston,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  Louisville, 
and  other  cities,  towns,  and  districts  of  the  United  States.  With  three  ad- 
dresses, on  various  public  occasions.  And  a  reply  to  the  charges  against 
the  French  Reformers  of  1789." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled,  "  An 
Act  for  the  encouragement  of  Learning,  by  securing-  the  copies  of  Maps, 
Charts,  and  Books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  oi  such  copies,  during 
the  time  therein  mentioned."  And  also  to  an  act,  entitled,  "  An  Act,  sup- 
plementary to  an  Act,  entitled,  an  Act  for  the  encouragement  of  Learning, 
Dy  securing  the  copies  of  Maps,  Charts,  and  Books,  to  the  authors  and 
proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,  and  ex- 
tending the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and  etch- 
ing historical  and  other  prints." 

FRED.  J.  BETTS, 
Clerk  of  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 


*. 


TO  THE 

PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

(fiusb  to  bxamxhe,  to  judge,  to  adopt,  or  to  discard  thb 
viE-ws  therein  contained,  and  the  measures 

THEREIN  RECOMMENDED,) 
THESE 

FAMILIAR  DISCOURSES 

ARE  INSCRIBED, 

BY  THEIR  VRIEND  AND  TELLOW-CITIZEN, 

FRANCES  WRIGHT. 


42.5596 


H 


•     • 


.Jt. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Preface    - ...-,.-.,..--  7 

Introductory  Address  to  the  course,  as  delivered  for  the  second 

time  in  New- York  -----------..-  13 

Lecture  I. — On  the'nature  of  knowledge  -----.--  17 

Lectuee  II. — Of  free  enquiry,  considered  as  a  means  of  obtain- 
ing just  knowledge  -----.--.-.----  41 

Lectuhe  III. — Of  the  more  important  divisions  and  essential 

parts  of  knowledge  -••.--.•••.-.--  63 

Lectuhe  IV. — Religion      .---.••------  85 

Lecture  V. — Morals      --------».,---  106 

Lecture  VI. — Opinions     •-•.*-.--•---  127 
Lecture  VII. — On  existing  evils  and  their  remedy,  as  delivered 

in  Philadelphia,  on  June  2d,  1829 150 

Address  I. — ^Delivered  in  the  New  Harmony  Hall,  on  the  fourth 

of  July,  1828 171 

Address  H. — ^DeUvered  in  the  Wahiut-street  Theatre,  Philadel- 
phia, on  the  fourth  of  July,  1829     ---------  183 

Address  HI. — DeUvered  at  the  opening  of  the  Hall  of  Science 

New-York,  Sunday,  April  26,  1829 203 

Reply  to  the  traducers  of  the  French  Reformers  of  the  year  1789  227 
Analytical  Table  of  Contents    ------------233 

a2 


PREFACE. 


The  substance  of  the  three  first  lectures  which  appear  in  the 
present  volume,  was  first  delivered  in  Cincymati,  during  the  course 
of  the  last  summer. 

The  motives  that  activated  me  to  step  forward  in  a  manner  ill 
suited  to  my  taste  and  habits,  which  are  rather  those  of  a  quiet 
observer  and  reflecting  writer,  than  of  a  popular  reformer  or  pub- 
lic speaker,  will  appear  sufficiently  in  the  discourses  themselves. 
I  may  observe,  however,  that  from  the  age  of  seventeen,  when  I 
first  accidentally  opened  the  page  of  America's  national  history, 
as  portrayed  by  the  Italian  Bocca,  the  only  work  on  a  subject  so 
politically  heterodox  which  had  found  a  place  in  the  aristocratical 
libraries  which  surrounded  my  youth— from  that  moment  my  at- 
tention became  rivetted  on  this  country,  as  on  the  theatre  where 
man  might  first  awake  to  the  full  knowledge  and  the  full  exercise 
of  his  powers.  I  immediately  collected  every  work  which  pro- 
mised to  throw  any  light  on  the  institutions,  character,  and  condi- 
tion of  the  American  people :  and  as,  at  that  period,  little  satisfac- 
tory information  on  these  subjects  could  be  gleaned  in  Europe,  I 
visited  this  country  in  person.  The  "  Views"  then  rapidly  form- 
ed I  published  on  my  return  to  England,  with  the  single  object  of 
awakening  the  attention  of  European  reformers  to  the  great  prin- 
ciples laid  down  in  American  government.  Those  principles  had 
indeed  so  warmed  my  own  feelings,  as  to  have  influenced  my  per- 
ceptions. During  my  first  visit  to  America,  I  seemed  to  hear  and 
see  her  declaration  of  independence  every  where.  I  studied  her 
institutions,  and  mistook  for  the  energy  of  enlightened  liberty 
what  was,  perhaps,  rather  the  restlessness  of  commercial  enter- 
prise. I  saw  her  population  active  and  thriving,  and  conceived 
that  to  be  the  effect  of  wise  social  regulations,  which  had,  perhaps, 
rather  its  source  in  the  temporary  state  of  an  artificial  market.  I 
saw  neither  princes  nor  bayonets,  nor  a  church  married  to  the 
state,  and  conceived,  in  very  truth,  that  liberty  had  here  quicken- 
ed the  human  mind,  until  it  was  prepared  to  act  under  the  influ- 
ence of  reason  instead  of  fear.  It  was  true  that  I  saw  this  coun- 
try at  a  favourable  moment,  when  peace  had  opened  to  her  the 
ports  of  the  world,  and  set  a  second  seal  on  her  republican  hber- 
ties  and  national  independence.    Still,  however  favorable  the  time 


8  PREFACE. 

might  be,  my  own  enthusiasm  doubtless  conspired  to  throw  a 
claud-lorraine  tint  over  a  country  which  bore  the  name  of  Re- 
pubUc.  It  required  a  second  visit,  and  a  more  minute  inspection, 
to  enable  me  to  see  things  under  the  sober  light  of  truth,  and  to 
estimate  both  the  excellences  that  are,  and  those  that  are  yet 
wanting. 

This  second  visit,  while  it  has  exposed  to  my  view  evils  and 
abuses  differing  in  degree  rather  than  in  nature  from  those  of  Eu- 
rope, has  rivetted  me  in  mind  and  feeling  yet  more  strongly  to  a 
country  where  are  enshrined  all  the  hberties  and  aU  the  hopes  of 
the  human  race.  From  a  visiter,  therefore,  I  have  become  a  resi- 
]_.dent  and  a  citizen. 

While  yet  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  state  of  things  in 
my  adopted  country — ^with  the  breadth  of  distance  between  Ame- 
rican principles  and  American  practice — between  the  theory  of 
American  government  and  its  actual  application— my  attention 
had  been  attracted  towards  the  political  anomaly  and  moral  injus- 
tice presented  by  the  condition  of  the  coloured  population  in  the 
slave-holding  states,  as  well  as  by  the  feeling  exhibited,  and  prac- 
tices legally  countenanced,  towards  that  race,  generally  through- 
out the  union.  Four  years  of  extensive  and  minute  observation, 
with  deeper  reflection,  and  more  varied,  as  well  as  more  reasoned 
experience,  have  convinced  me  that  American  negro  slavery  is  but 
one  form  of  the  same  evils  which  pervade  the  whole  frame  of 
human  society.  And  as,  in  common  with  all  human  errors,  it  has 
its  source  in  ignorance,  so  must  one  common  panacea  supply  its 
and  their  remedy.  The  spread  and  increase  of  knowledge  alone 
can  enable  man  to  distinguish  that  the  true  interests  of  each  point 
to  the  equal  liberties,  equal  duties,  and  equal  enjoyments  of  all ; 
and  that  then  only,  will  the  principles  set  forth  in  the  first  national 
instrument  of  American  government,  the  declaration  of  indepen- 
dence, be  practically  exhibited— when  the  law  of  force  shall  give 
place  to  the  law  of  reason,  when  wealth  shall  be  the  reward  of  in- 
dustry, and  all  things  shall  be  estimated  in  a  ratio  calculated  in 
the  order  of  their  utility. 

Satisfied  that  the  melioration  of  the  human  condition  can  be 
reached  only  by  the  just  informing  of  the  human  mind,  I  have 
applied  such  powers  as  I  possess  to  the  furtherance  of  this  plea- 
sing, though  laborious  task.  In  the  citadel  of  human  error,  as 
exhibited  in  this  country,  it  is  easy  to  distinguish  two  main  strong 


PREFAC£.  9 

holds,  which,  if  once  carried,  the  fastness  would  probably  surren- 
der at  the  first  summons.  These  are :  First,  the  neglected  state 
of  the  female  mind,  and  the  consequent  dependence  of  the  female 
condition.  This,  by  placing  the  most  influential  half  of  the  nation 
at  the  mercy  of  that  worst  species  of  quackery,  practised  under 
the  name  of  religion,  virtually  lays  the  reins  of  government,  na- 
tional as  well  as  domestic,  in  the  hands  of  a  priesthood,  whose 
very  subsistence  depends,  of  necessity,  upon  the  mental  and  moral 
degradation  of  their  fellow  creatures. 

Second,  the  ineptness  and  corruption  of  the  public  press,  ridden 
by  ascendant  influences,  until  it  is  abandoned  alike  by  the  honest 
and  the  wise,  and  left  in  the  hands  of  individuals  too  ignorant  to 
distinguish  truth,  or  too  timid  to  venture  its  utterance.  The  for- 
mer of  these  evils,  as  somewhat  unusually  exhibited  last  summer 
in  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  western  country,  first  led  me  to  chal- 
lenge the  attention  of  the  American  people. 

The  city  of  Cincinnati  had  stood  for  some  time  conspicuous  for 
the  enterprise  and  liberal  spirit  of  her  citizens,  when,  last  summer, 
by  the  sudden  combination  of  the  clergy  of  three  orthodox  sects, 
a  revival,  as  such  scenes  of  distraction  are  wont  to  be  styled,  was 
opened  in  houses,  churches,  and  even  on  the  Ohio  river.  The  vic- 
tims of  this  odious  experiment  on  human  credulity  and  nervous 
weakness,  were  invariably  women.  Helpless  age  was  made  a 
public  spectacle,  innocent  youth  driven  to  raving  insanity,  mothers 
and  daughters  carried  lifeless  from  the  presence  of  the  ghostly 
expounders  of  damnation ;  all  ranks  shared  the  contagion,  until 
the  despair  of  Calvin's  hell  itself  seemed  to  have  fallen  upon 
every  heart,  and  discord  to  have  taken  possession  of  every  man- 
sion. 

A  circumstantial  account  of  the  distress  and  disturbance  on  the 
public  mind  in  the  Ohio  metropolis  led  me  to  visit  the  afl!icted 
city ;  and,  since  all  were  dumb,  to  take  up  the  cause  of  insulted 
reason  and  outraged  humanity. 

The  consequences  of  the  course  of  lectures  I  then  first  de- 
livered, on  three  successive  Sundays,  in  the  Cincinnati  conrt- 
house,  and  re-delivered  in  the  theatre,  were  similar  to  those  Which 
have  been  witnessed  elsewhere ; — a  kindling  of  wrath  among  the 
clergy,  a  reaction  in  favor  of  common  sense  on  the  part  of  their 
followers,  an  explosion  of  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  liberty,  li- 
berality, and  instructional  reform,  and  a  complete  exposure  of  the 


10 


PREFACE. 


/ 


nothingness  of  the  press,  which,  at  a  time  when  the  popular  mind 
was  engrossed  by  questions  of  the  first  magnitude,  sullenly  eva- 
ded their  discussion,  betraying  alike  ignorance  the  most  gros^ 
and  servility  the  most  shameless.  All  that  I  then  observed,  con- 
spired to  fix  me  in  the  determination  of  devoting  my  time  and 
labour  to  the  investigation  and  exposure  of  existing  evils  and 
abuses,  and  to  the  gradual  developement  of  the  first  principles  of 
all  moral  and  physical  truth,  every  where  so  perplexed  and  con- 
founded by  the  sophistry  of  false  learning,  the  craft  of  designing 
knavery,  and  the  blunders  of  conceited  ignorance. 

The  two  means  which  presented  themselves,  were  those  of  po- 
pular discourses,  and  a  periodical  pubhcation,  which  should  fol- 
low up  the  same  objects,  consistently  and  fearlessly,  and,  by  in- 
stituting enquiry  on  matters  of  real  interest,  aid  in  drawing  off 
the  public  attention  from  the  squabbles  of  party,  the  verbiage  of 
theory,  the  gossippings  of  idleness,  and  the  ravmgs  of  zeal  with- 
out knowledge. 

The  present  volume  contains  the  first,  or  introductory  course, 
closing  at  the  seventh  lecture ;  in  which  I  have  attempted  to 
sketch  an  outlme  of  the  field  of  truth,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
expose  such  existing  errors  as  must  tend  to  blind  the  intellectual 
sight  to  its  perception. 

The  second  course,  which  will  be  found  sketched  at  the  close 
t)f  the  fifth  lecture,  on  Morals,  will  attempt  the  developement  and 
practical  application  of  those  simple  principles  by  which  the  con- 
duct of  human  beings,  one  towards  the  other,  may  be  justly  regu- 
lated, and  the  face  of  human  society  be  harmonized  into  beauty. 
'  In  the  seventh  discourse,  on  "  Existing  Evils  and  their  Reme- 
dy," I  was  induced  by  circumstances,  and  the  impatience  of  the 
public  mind,  somewhat  to  anticipate  a  subject  whose  more  com- 
plete developement  will  form  an  important  item  in  the  second 
course,  as  laid  out  at  the  close  of  the  fifth  lecture,  already  referred 
to,  and  to  which  I  shall  apply  myself  so  soon  as  some  duties  of  a 
more  private  nature  may  permit. 

In  attempting  reform  by  means  of  instructional  improvement 
at  the  present  day,  the  laborer  is  perplexed  by  the  alternate  dull- 
ness and  vivacity,  inertness  and  restlessness  of  the  human  mind. 
At  first,  curiosity  is.  slow  to  awaken ;  then  it  runs  too  fast ;  anon 
it  slumbers,  as  if  all  truth  were  seized,  and  its  every  feature  dis- 


PREFACE.  11 

tinguished,  when  perhaps  not  a  single  impression  received  is  in 
accurate  accordance  with  fact  and  with  reason. 

The  effects  of  a  pernicious  education  are  in  nothing  more  con- 
spicuous, than  in  the  universal  activity  of  the  imagination  and  the 
inertness  of  the  judgment.  To  treat  any  subject  with  perspicui- 
ty, a  certain  order  and  arrangement  are  indispensable.  Let  this 
order  be  disturbed,  and  arrangement  interrupted,  and  things  the 
most  simple  appear  confused,  and  truths  the  most  evident,  diffi- 
cult or  doubtful.  But  to  proceed  step  by  step— to  trace  the  outline 
and  consider  the  details— to  substantiate  first  principles,  and  then 
trace  them  out  in  their  various  applications,  demands  attention  too 
patient,  and  reflection  too  dispassionate,  for  minds  habitually  un- 
settled by  the  day-dreams  of  fancy,  and  accustomed  to  adopt 
conclusions  without  examining  premises.  The  first  effort  of  the 
reformer  is  to  awaken,  but  soon  he  finds  it  yet  more  necessary  to 
compose.  The  spur  is  hardly  applied  when  the  rein  is  wanting, 
and  the  impatience  of  curiosity  is  soon  a  greater  hinderance  to 
progress  than  the  apathy  of  ignorance. 

All  this,  however,  a  little  perseverance,  sustained  by  zeal  and 
temp'eredby  prudence,  might  speedily  vanquish,  were  it  not,  most 
unhappily,  the  momentary  interest  of  a  large  and  encreasing 
body  of  men  to  feed  the  worst  passions  of  the  hour,  and  to  coun- 
teract the  labors  of  truth's  advocates  by  every  means  possible  for 
art  to  devise  or  violencelo  dare.  Still,  in  this  country,  the  pro- 
gress of  the  human  mind,  if  impeded,  cannot  be  arrested.  And 
truly,  if  regard  be  had  to  the  conflicting  interests  and  sinister  in- 
fluences which  now  pervade  society,  we  may  rather  marvel  at 
the  success  obtained  than  at  the  difficulties  encountered. 

The  views  which  I  have  felt  it  my  duty  to  present  to  the  Ame- 
rican people — the  only  people  free  to  choose  between  truth  and 
error,  good  and  evil — are  as  yet  but  faintly  sketched.  The  outline 
only  is  presented,  and  those  first  principles  laid  down  in  whose 
general  and  minute  application  I  shall  hereafter  seek  the  law  of 
nations  and  the  law  of  men.  WhUe  attempting  the  develope- 
ment  of  these  first  principles,  I  have  been  often  challenged  to 
their  premature  application  to  existing  laws  and  usages ;  not  see- 
ing that  with  these  the  enquirer  after  truth  has  little  to  do,  and 
that  it  must  be  rather  for  our  laws  and  usages  to  bend  to  princi- 
ples, than  for  these  to  shape  themselves  to  our  laws  and  usages. 
As  a  lecturer,  therefore,  I  have  rather  appUed  myself  to  develope 


12  PREFACE. 

what  is  true  than  to  expose  what  is  false ;  reserving  my  comments 
on  the  passing  opinions  and  practices  of  the  age  for  the  pages  of 
the  periodical  of  which  I  am  a  joint  editor. 

The  Free  Enquirer,  formerly  the  New  Harmony  Gazette,  was 
the  first  periodical  established  in  the  United  States  for  the  pur- 
pose of  fearless  and  unbiassed  enquiry  on  all  subjects.  It  was  con- 
ducted in  Indiana,  with  more  or  less  consistency  and  ability,  for 
the  space  of  three  years,  when  I  assumed  its  joint  proprietorship, 
and  removed  it  to  New- York,  under  a  name  more  expressive  of 
its  character.  Since  that  period,  it  has  been  conducted,  I  am 
sure,  with  honesty,  and,  I  hope,  not  without  utility.  Its  editors 
have  had  singly  in  view  the  discovery  of  truth  and  the  well  be- 
ing of  man.  If  their  zeal  has  been  warm,  their  spirit  has,  I  trust, 
been  gentle.  If  they  have  spared  no  error  on  account  of  its  po- 
pularity, they  have  neither  sought  the  exposure  of  the  erring,  nor 
resented  the  hostility  of  the  violent.  They  have  kept  true  to  the 
pledge  given  in  their  prospectus — they  have  sought  truth  "  alone, 
and  for  itself;"  "they  have  devoted  their  pages  without  fear, 
without  reserves,  without  pledge  to  men,  parties,  sects,  or  sys- 
tems, to  free,  unbiassed  and  universal  enquiry ;"  and,  while  ta- 
king for  their  premises  the  principles  developed  in  the  following 
discourses,  they  have  tested,  as  they  will  continue  to  test,  the  laws, 
opinions,  and  practices  of  men,  by  that  only  standard  of  truth, 
supplied  by  nature  herself,  and  by  the  powers  of  the  human 

FRANCES  WBIGHT. 

KmrYorktith  Octohery  1829. 


#^ 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS, 

TO    THE    SECOND    COURSE. 
[As  delivered  for  the  second  time  in  New- York.] 

The  circumstances  under  which  I  now  meet  this  as- 
semblage of  the  people  of  New- York,  are,  I  believe,  un- 
paralleled in  the  history  of  the  world.  All  nations  have 
had  their  revolutions — all  cities,  in  the  hitherto  unfortunate 
annals  of  the  human  race,  their  disturbances,  and  their 
disturbers ;  but  truly,  the  sight  and  the  sound  is  aUke 
novel,  of  privilege  and  pretension  arraying  aU  the  forces 
of  a  would-be  hierarchy  and  a  would-be  aristocracy,  to 
assassinate  the  hberties  of  a  free  state  in  the  person  of  a 
single  individual,  and  to  outrage  public  order  and  public 
decency,  by  ribald  slanders  and  incendiary  threats,  against 
the  reputation  and  person  of  a  woman.  Truly  the 
signs  are  novel  which  mark  this  hour,  and  truly  the  place 
assigned  to  myself  by  the  clamour  and  artifice  of  a  body  of 
men,  trembling  for  privileges  and  profits,  and  eager  to  drown 
with  noisy  words  that  which  they  cannot  confute  by  argu- 
ment, might  cower  the  strength  of  one  less  confident  in  her 
cause,  or  less  ardent  for  its  success.  But,  so  surely  as  I 
know  the  strength  of  the  ground  which  I  have  assumed, 
and  the  weakness  of  that  which  thei/  have  to  defend,  will 
I  stand  fast,  and  stand  firm.  And  did  I  need,  in  this  hour, 
ought  beyond  or  without  my  own  bosom  to  sustain  me,  I 
should  find  it  in  my  conviction  of  the  destined  triumph  of 
the  cause  I  serve,  and  in  the  pure  decision  of  wiser  and 
happier  generations  to  come,  who  (be  what  it  may,  the 
momentary  issue  of  this  hour,  and  its  momentary  conse- 
quences, lo  me,)  shall  write  my  name  and  preserve  my 

B 


14  INTRODUCTORY   ADDRESS. 

memory  among  those  of  the  champions  of  human  liberty 
and  heralds  of  human  improvement. 

I  know  of  none,  from  the  modest  Socrates  and  gentle 
Jesus,  down  to  the  least  or  the  greatest  reformers  of  our 
own  time,  who  have  remembered  the  poor,  the  ignorant,  or 
the  oppressed,  raised  their  voice  in  favour  of  more  equal 
distributions  of  knowledge  and  liberty,  or  dared  to  investi- 
gate the  causes  of  vice  and  wretchedness,  with  a  view  to 
their  remedy ;  I  know  of  none,  I  say,  who  have  not  been 
the  mark  of  persecution,  drank  the  poison  of  calumny,  or 
borne  the  cross  of  martyrdom.  What  better  and  wiser 
have  endured,  1  shall  not  lack  courage  to  meet.  Having 
put  my  hand  to  the  plough,  I  will  not  draw  back,  nor, 
having  met  the  challenge  so  long  cast  at  hiunan  nature 
and  human  reason,  alike  by  privilege  and  superstition,  will 
I  refuse  to  meet  all  hazards  in  their  cause. 

I  have  already  pledged  myself  to  show  evidence  for  all 
my  opinions ;  I  pledge  myself  farther,  to  shotv  all  my 
opinions,  for,  so  truly  as  I  have  taken  man  for  my  study, 
and  his  happiness  for  my  object,  do  I  believe  that  all  my 
opinions  can  bring  facts  to  their  support,  and  will,  sooner  or 
later,  find  an  echo  in  every  thinking  mind  and  feeling  heart. 

It  hath  been  asked  again  and  again,  amid  all  the  confii- 
sion  of  reports  and  assertions,  threats  and  declamations, 
conjured  up  to  fright  the  timidity  of  woman,  and  alarm 
the  protecting  tenderness  of  man,  why  I  do  not  reply  to 
the  slander  of  enemies,  and  supply  arguments  to  friends  ? 

If  among  the  present  assemblage  there  be  any  who 
have  followed  all  or  some  of  my  previous  discourses,  I 
would  put  it  to  their  memory  and  their  reason,  if  I,  on 
those  occasions,  presented  arguments  and  evidence  for  the 
opinions  advanced;  and  if  any  one  of  those  arguments 
has  been  by  a  single  individual  refuted,  or  that  evidence, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  by  one  single  individual  impugned. 


m. 


INTRODUCTORY   ADDRESS.  15 

* 

And  I  will  here  call  upon  you  to  observe,  that  my  oppo- 
nents have  had  the  command  of  the  whole  press  and  all 
the  pulpits  of  this  city.  To  what  account  have  these 
been  turned  ?  To  heap  on  my  name  and  person  outrage 
and  abuse.  To  libel  my  audience;  intimidate  women, 
attack  the  interests  of  men,  invoke  the  interference  of  the 
magistracy  of  the  city,  and  threaten  the  lessees  of  this  house 
with  "  riot,  fire,  and  bloodshed." 

My  friends,  I  appeal  to  your  reason,  if,  by  resorting  to 
such  measures,  my  opponents  have  not  substantiated  their 
own  weakness,  and  supplied  an  acknowledgment,  that  so 
far  as  I  have  spoken  they  cannot  gainsay  me  1 

And  now,  then,  I  will  ask,  and  that  rather  for  the  sake 
of  good  order  and  common  sense,  than  for  any  personal 
interest  of  mine,  if  on  the  topics  I  have  spoken,  I  have 
neither  outraged  your  reason  nor  your  feeUngs,  and  re- 
main unanswered  by  my  enemies— if  it  be  not  at  the  leeist 
probable  that  on  the  topics  I  have  not  spoken,  I  may  be 
rational  also.  I  have  nothing  in  my  head  or  my  heart  to 
hold  back  from  such  of  my  fellow  creatures,  as  may  desire 
to  read  either,  with  a  view  to  the  eliciting  of  truth.  I  have 
already  sketched  out  to  you  the  subject  matter  of  many 
future  investigations,  embracing  all  our  weightiest  duties 
and  responsibiUties,  as  reasoning  and  sentient  beings. 

But,  as  I  have  opened  our  discussions  in  order,  so  in 
order  must  I  pursue  them,  if  pursued  at  all.  We  cannot 
speak  to  aU  things  at  once,  nor  demonstrate  the  last  prob- 
lem in  Euclid,  ere  we  have  substantiated  the  first. 

In  comphance  with  the  wishes  of  a  mass  of  the  citizens, 
as  conveyed  to  me  by  individuals,  and  attested  by  my  own 
observations  of  the  many  disappointed  of  entrance  in  oia: 
former  places  of  meeting,  I  have  consented  to  redehver  my 
elementary  course  on  the  nature  of  all  kno\^edge,  physical 
and  moral. 


16  INTRODUCTORY    ADDRESS. 

Without  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  primary  truths 
which  it  has  been  my  attempt,  in  this  elementary  course, 
familiarly  to  elucidate,  the  public  mind  must  be  unfit  for 
any  discussion  ;  therefore  it  is,  that  I  commence  with  tliese 
primary  tiTiths  ;  and  therefore  it  is,  that  I  shall  decline  the 
discussion  of  all  other  topics  until,  our  first  premises  being 
laid,  we  are  supplied  with  fi  standard  by  which  to  test  all 
existing  opinions  and  existing  practice. 

Whenever  hereafter  I  may  be  called,  in  peace  and  with 
seriousness,  to  dehver  my  views  on  any  subject  of  general 
interest  to  my  fellow  beings,  I  will  meet  their  wishes.  My 
opinions,  whatever  they  may  be,  I  am  not  accustomed  to 
defend^  but  I  will  willingly  explain ;  and  explain  with 
that  simplicity,  which  befits  enquiry  after  truth,  and  that 
tenderness  to  the  feelings  of  others,  which  I  think  I  am 
not  apt  to  forget. 

Before  we  open  our  discussions  of  the  evening,  I  would 
suggest  to  the  audience,  the  propriety  of  bearing  in  mind 
the  circumstances  under  which  we  meet,  the  former  futile 
attempts  to  disturb  our  meetings  in  the  Masonic  Hall,  and 
the  possible  presence  of  some  mistaken  and  misguided  in- 
dividuals, ready  to  excite  false  alarm,  and  to  take  advan- 
tage of  any  the  least  disturbance,  with  a  view  to  the 
injury  of  the  cause  of  human  improvement,  which  we  are 
met  to  promote,  and  to  the  injury  of  the  lessees  of  the 
building  which  we  now  occupy. 

In  case  of  any  attempt  to  disturb  our  meeting,  by  cries 
of  alarm,  I  beg  the  audience  to  bear  in  mind,  that  the 
house  is  under  vigilant  and  double  poUce. 

I  shall  now,  then,  present  you  with  the  opening  dis- 
course, formerly  delivered  in  the  Masonic  Hall.  And,  as 
it  will  be  in  matter  and  words  the  same,  you  will  judge  of 
the  accuracy  of  the  reports  presented  in  your  daily 
papers. 


I.ECTURE  I. 


ON  THE  NATURE  OF  KNOWLEDGE. 

Who  among  us,  that  hath  cast  even  an  occasional  and 
slightly  observant  glance  on  the  face  of  society,  but  must 
have  remarked  the  differing  opinions,  which  distract  the 
human  mind  ;  the  opposing  creeds  and  systems,  each  as- 
serting its  claim  to  infallibility,  and  rallying  around  its 
standard  pertinacious  disciples,  enthusiastic  proselytes, 
ardent  apologists,  fiery  combatants,  obsequious  worship- 
pers, conscientious  followers,  and  devoted  martyrs  ?  If  we 
extend  our  observation  over  the  surface  of  our  globe,  and 
consider  its  diversified  population,  however  varied  in  hue 
and  feature,  we  find  it  yet  more  varied  in  opinions,  in  one 
opinion  only  invariably  agreed,  viz.  that  of  its  infallibility. 
The  worshipper  of  sculptured  idols  bows  before  the  image 
of  his  hand,  and  shrinks  with  unfeigned  terror,  if  a  sacri- 
legious intruder  profane  the  sanctuary  of  his  superstition. 
The  adorer  of  the  bright  luminary  which  marks  our  days 
and  seasons,  sees  in  the  resplendent  orb,  not  a  link  in  the 
vast  chain  of  material  existence,  but  the  source  of  all  ex- 
istence ;  and  so  from  the  most  unpretending  savage,  to  the 
most  lettered  nation  of  a  lettered  age,  we  find  all  shaping 
their  superstitions,  accoixling  to  the  measure  of  their  igno- 
rance or  their  knowledge,  and  each  devoutly  believing  his 
faith  and  practice  to  be  the  true  and  the  just.  Or  let  us 
confine  our  observation  within  the  limits  of  the  country  we 
inhabit — ^how  varying  the  creeds  arising  out  of  one  system 
.      b2  3 


18  NATURE    OP   KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.   I. 

of  faith !  How  contradictory  the  assertions  and  expecta- 
tions of  sects,  all  equally  positive  and  equally,  we  may 
presume,  conscientious  !  How  conflicting  the  opinions  and 
feelings  of  men  upon  all  subjects,  trivial  or  important ! 
until  we  are  tempted  to  exclaim,  "  Where,  then,  is  right 
or  wrong  but  in  human  imagination,  and  what  is  truth 
more  than  bhnd  opinion  ?"  Few  of  us  prone  to  study  or 
observation,  yet  educated  after  existing  methods,  but  must 
have  asked  these  questions,  and  halted  for  a  reply. 

Should  the  problem  here  started  be,  I  say  not  impossible, 
but  even  diflftcult  of  solution,  lamentable  must  be  the 
human  condition  to  the  end  of  time  !  Had  truth  no  test — 
no  standard — no  positive,  no  tangible  existence,  behold  us, 
then,  sold  to  error,  and,  while  to  error,  to  misery,  through 
all  the  generations  of  our  race!  But,  fortunately,  the 
answer  is  simple ;  only  too  simple,  ^  it  would  appear,  for 
mystery  loving,  mystery  seeking  man,  to  perceive  and 
acknowledge. 

Let  not  the  present  audience  imagine,  that  I  am  about 
to  add  one  more  to  the  already  uncountable,  unnameable 
systems,  which  distract  the  understandings  of  men,  or  to 
draw  yet  new  doctrines  and  precepts  from  the  fertile 
alembic  of  the  human  brain.  I  request  you  to  behold  in 
me  an  enquirer,  not  a  teacher ;  one  who  conceives  of  truth 
as  a  jewel  to  be  found,  not  to  be  coined ;  a  treasure  to  be 
discovered  by  observation,  and  accumulated  by  careful, 
persevering  industry,  not  invented  and  manufactured  by 
learned  art  or  aspiring  quackery,  Hke  the  once  fashionable 
elixir  of  immortality  and  philosopher's  stone.  My  object 
will  be  simply  to  take  with  you  a  survey  of  the  field  of 
human  enquiry ;  to  ascertain  its  nature,  its  extent,  its 
boundaries,  its  limits ;  to  discover,  in  the  first  place,  what 
there  is  for  us  to  know ;  secondly,  the  means  we  possess 
for  acquiring  such  knowledge  as  is  of  possible  attaiimient, 


LECT.  I.]      NATURE  OP  KNOWLEDGE.  19 

and,  thirdly,  having  satisfied  ourselves  as  to  what  can  be 
known,  and  as  to  what  we  know,  to  seek  in  our  knowledge 
the  test  of  our  opinions. 

It  must  be  admitted,  that,  as  all  our  opinions  must  rest 
upon  some  evidence,  real  or  imagined,  so  upon  the  truth 
or  falsehood  of  the  evidence  admitted,  must  rest  the  tmth 
or  falsehood  of  the  opinions  based  thereupon.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  before  we  can  apply  any  safe  or  certain  test  to 
our  opinions,  we  must  well  luiderstand  the  nature  of  true 
evidence ;  before  we  can  reflect,  we  must  have  something  to 
reflect  upon ;  before  we  can  think  accurately  respecting 
any  thing,  we  must  know  accurately  all  relating  to  it ;  and 
wheresoever  our  knowledge  be  complete,  will  our  opinion 
be  just. 

Seeing,  then,  that  just  opinions  are  the  result  of  just 
knowledge,  and  perceiving,  as  we  must  all  perceive,  how 
much  confusion  arises  to  society  out  of  the  conflicting 
©pinions,  which  divide  alike  nations  and  families,  into  sects 
and  parties,  it  is  equally  our  interest  and  our  duty,  to  aim 
at  the  acquisition  of  just  knowledge,  with  a  view  to  the 
formation  of  just  opinions.  And,  as  we  shall  hereafter 
have  occasion  to  observe,  just  practice  being  the  result  of 
pst  opinions,  and  human  happiness  being  the  certain  result 
of  just  practice,  it  is  equally  our  interest  and  our  duty  to 
aim  at  the  formation  of  just  opinions,  with  a  view  to  the 
attainment  of  happiness. 

We  shall,  therefore,  open  our  investigations  by  an  en- 
quiry into  the  nature  and  object  of  just  knowledge  ;  and 
if  we  succeed  in  ascertaining  these,  we  will  farther  exa- 
mine the  causes  which  at  present  impede  our  progress, 
and  the  means  best  calculated  at  once  to  remove  such  im- 
pediments, and  to  advance  us  in  the  course  which  it  is 
our  interest  to  pursue. 

If  we  consider  man  in  comparison  with  other  animals, 


BQ  NATURE    OP    KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  I. 

a  view  to  convenient  and  suitable  divisions  in  the  greal 
work  of  inspecting  the  whole,  and  also  with  a  view  to  the 
applying  more  order  and  method  in  the  arrangement  of 
the  facts  collated  in  the  wide  field  of  nature,  they  have 
been  classed  under  different  heads,  each  of  which  we  may 
call  a  branch  of  knowledge^  or,  more  succinctly,  a  science. 

Thus  :  do  we  consider  the  various  living  tribes  which 
people  the  elements?  We  class  our  observations  under  the 
head  of  natural  histoiy.  Do  we  direct  our  attention  to 
the  structure  and  mechanism  of  their  bodies  ?  We  desig- 
nate the  results  of  our  inspection  under  the  heads  anatomy 
and  physiology.  Do  we  trace  the  order  of  occurrences 
and  appearances  in  the  wide  field  of  nature  ?  We  note 
them  under  natural  philosophy.  Do  we  analyze  substan- 
ces and  search  out  their  simple  elements  ?  chemistry.  Do 
we  apply  ourselves  to  the  measurement  of  bodies,  or  cal- 
culate the  heights  and  distances  of  objects  ?  geometry. 
And  so  on,  through  all  the  range  of  human  observation, 
extending  from  the  relative  position  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  and  accurate  calculation  of  their  courses,  to  the 
uses,  habits,  structure,  and  physiology  of  the  dehcate  plant 
which  carpets  our  earth. 

Now,  all  the  sciences,  properly  so  called,  being  com- 
jlounded  of  facts,  ascertained  or  ascertainable  by  the  sen- 
sations of  each  individual,  so  all  that  is  not  so  ascertainable 
is  not  knowledge,  only  belief,  and  can  never  constitute  for 
us  matter  of  fact  certainty,  only  greater  or  less  probability. 
In  elucidation,  we  might  remark  that  the  facts  we  glean, 
in  the  study  of  chemistry,  supply  us  with  knowledge ; 
those  received  upon  testimony,  as  in  the  study  of  history, 
supply  us  with  probabilities,  or  with  improbabilities,  as  it 
may  be,  and  constitute  belief. 

Now,  again — as  our  knowledge  is  supplied  by  our  own 
individual  sensations,  and  our  belief  by  the  attested  sensa- 


LECT.  I.]      NATURE  OF  KNOWLEDGE.  St 

tions  of  others,  it  is  possible,  while  pretending  to  commu- 
nicate knowledge,  only  to  communicate  belief.  This  we 
know  to  be  the  system  pursued  in  all  our  schools  and 
colleges,  where  the  truths  of  the  most  demonstrable 
sciences  are  presented  under  the  disguise  of  oral  or  written 
lessons,  instead  of  being  exposed,  in  practical  illustrations, 
to  the  eye,  and  the  ear,  and  the  touch,  in  the  simple,  incon- 
trovertible fact.  This  method,  while  it  tends  to  hide  and 
perpetuate  the  errors  of  teachers,  so  does  it  also  incul- 
cate credulity  and  blind  beUef  in  the  scholar,  and  finally 
establishes  the  conclusion  in  the  mind,  that  knowledge  is 
compounded  of  words,  and  signs,  and  intellectual  abstrac- 
tions, instead  of  facts  and  human  sensations. 

Greatly,  very  greatly  to  be  desired,  is  a  just  mode  of 
instruction.  It  would  not  only  shorten  the  road  of  know- 
ledge, it  would  carpet  it  with  flowers.  We  should  then 
tread  it  in  childhood  Avith  smiles  of  cheerfulness  ;  and,  as 
we  followed  its  pleasant  course,  horizon  after  horizon  would 
open  upon  us,  delighting  and  improving  our  minds  and 
feelings,  through  life,  unto  our  latest  hour.  But  if  it  is  of 
the  first  importance  to  be  launched  aright  in  infancy,  the 
moment  we  distinctly  perceive  what  knowledge  is,  we 
may,  at  any  age,  start  boldly  for  its  attainment. 

I  have  said,  we  may  start  holdly — ay  !  and  there  lies 
the  surety  of  our  success.  If  we  bring  not  the  good 
courage  of  minds  covetous  of  truth,  and  truth  only,  prepa- 
red to  hear  all  things,  examine  all  things,  and  decide  upon 
all  things,  according  to  evidence,  we  should  do  more  wisely 
to  sit  down  contented  in  ignorance,  than  to  bestir  ourselves 
only  to  reap  disappointment.  But  let  us  onCe  look  around 
upon  this  fair  material  world,  as  upon  the  book  which  it 
behoves  us  to  read  ;  let  us  understand,  that  in  this  book 
there  are  no  puzzling  mysteries,  but  a  simple  train  of  occur- 
rences, which  it  imports  us  to  observe,  with  an  endless 


22  NATURE    OF   KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  I. 

of  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  all  the  most  esteemed 
branches  of  knowledge,  he  may  be  utterly  unacquainted 
with  the  object  and  nature  of  knowledge  itself  Let  us, 
then,  enquire  again,  what  knowledge  is. 

Is  it  not,  in  the  first  place,  acquaintance  with  ourselves? 
and  secondly,  with  all  things  to  which  we  stand  in  relation  ? 

How  are  we  to  obtain  this  acquaintance  ?  By  observa- 
tion and  patient  enquiry. 

What  are  the  means  we  possess  for  this  observation  and 
enquiry?  Our  senses ;  and  our  faculties,  as  awakened  and 
improved  in  and  by  the  exercise  of  our  senses. 

Let  us  now  examine  what  are  the  objects  really  sub- 
mitted to  the  investigation  of  our  senses. 

These  may  be  all  embraced  under  the  generic  term 
matter,  implying  the  whole  of  existence  within  the  range 
of  our  inspection. 

Were  we  to  proceed  minutely  in  our  analysis,  we  shoiUd 
observe  that  matter,  as  existing  around  us,  appears  under 
three  forms,  the  gaseous,  the  liquid,  and  the  solid ;  and 
that  under  one  or  other  of  these  forms  may  be  accurately 
classed  all  that  is  submitted  to  our  observation — all,  in  short, 
that  we  can  see,  hear,  feel,  taste,  or  smell.  But  to  enter  at 
present  into  such  details  would  be  foreign  to  our  purpose. 

I  shall,  therefore,  pass  on  to  observe,  that  the  accurate  and 
patient  investigation  of  matter,  in  all  its  subdivisions,  to- 
gether with  all  its  quaUties  and  changes,  constitutes  a  just 
education.  And  that  in  proportion  as  we  ascertain,  in 
the  course  of  investigation,  the  real  qualities  and  actual 
changes  of  matter,  together  with  the  judicious  apphcation 
of  all  things  to  the  use  of  man,  and  influence  of  all  oc- 
currences on  the  happiness  of  man,  so  do  we  acquire  know- 
ledge. In  other  words,  knowledge  is  an  accumulation  of 
facts,  and  signifies  things  known.    In  proportion,  there- 


LECT.  I.]      NATURE  OP  KNOWLEDGE.  23 

fore,  as  the  sphere  of  our  observation  is  large,  and  our  in- 
vestigation of  all  within  that  sphere  careful,  in  proportion 
is  our  knowledge. 

The  view  of  knowledge  we  have  here  taken  is  simple ; 
and  it  may  be  observed,  that  not  in  this  case  only,  but  in 
all  others,  accuracy  and  simplicity  go  hand  in  hand.  All 
truth  is  simple,  for  truth  is  only  fact.  The  means  of  at- 
taining truth  are  equally  simple.  We  have  but  to  seek 
and  we  shall  find ;  to  open  our  eyes  and  our  ears;  without 
prejudice  to  observe ;  without  fear  to  listen,  and  dispas- 
sionately to  examine,  compare,  and  draw  our  conclusions. 

The  field  of  knowledge  is  around,  and  about,  and  within 
us.  Let  us  not  be  alarmed  by  sounding  words,  and  let  us 
not  be  deceived  by  them.  Let  us  look  to  things.  It  is 
things  which  we  have  to  consider.  Words  are,  or,  more 
correctly,  should  be,  only  the  signs  of  things.  I  say  they 
should  he  ;  for  it  is  a  most  lamentable  truth,  that  they  are 
now  very  generally  conceived  to  constitute  the  very  sub- 
stance of  knowledge.  Words,  indeed,  should  seem  at 
present  contrived  rather  for  the  purpose  of  confusing  our 
ideas,  than  administering  to  their  distinctness  and  arrange- 
ment. Instead  of  viewing  them  as  the  shadows,  we  mis- 
take them  for  the  substance ;  and  conceive  that  in  propor- 
tion as  we  enlarge  our  vocabulary,  we  multiply  our  ac- 
quirements. 

Vain,  then,  will  be  the  attempt  to  increase  our  know- 
ledge, until  we  understand  where  we  are  to  look  for  it,  and 
in  what  it  consists.  Here  is  the  first  stepping  stone.  Let 
our  foot  but  firmly  strike  it,  and  our  after  progress  is  easy. 

And  in  what  lies  the  importance  of  this  first  step  in 
human  knowledge  ?  In  the  accuracy  which  it  brings  to  all 
our  ideas.  It  places  us  at  once  cm  firm  ground,  introduces 
us  into  the  field  of  real  enquiry,  and  lays  the  reign  of  the 
imagination  in  the  hand  of  the  judgment.     Difiicult  were 


f  if 

24  NATURE    OP   KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  I. 

it  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  the  step  which  involves 
such  consequences.  Until  we  bring  accuracy  to  our 
thoughts,  and,  we  may  add,  accuracy  to  the  words  em- 
ployed for  their  expression — we  can  make  no  progress. 
We  may  wander,  indeed,  and  most  certainly  shall  wander, 
in  various  paths  ;  but  they  will  be  paths  of  error.  The 
straight  broad  road  of  improvement  it  will  not  be  ours  to 
tread,  until  we  take  heed  unto  our  feet,  and  know  always 
whither  we  are  going. 

Imagine — and  how  easy  is  it  to  imagine,  when  we  have 
but  to  look  around  us  or  within  ourselves — imagine  the 
confusion  of  hopes,  desires,  ambitions,  and  expectations, 
with  which  the  scholar  enters,  and  but  too  often  leaves, 
the  halls  of  science.  On  entering  them,  he  conceives  that 
some  mysterious  veil,  hke  the  screen  of  the  holy  of  holies, 
is  about  to  be  withdrawn,  and  that  he  is  to  look  at  things 
far  removed  from  real  Ufe,  and  raised  far  above  the  vulgar 
apprehension.  On  leaving  them,  he  has  his  memory  sur- 
charged with  a  confusion  of  ideas,  and  a  yet  worse  confu- 
sion of  words.  He  knows,  perhaps,  the  properties  of 
ciphers  and  of  angles  ;  the  names  and  classification  of 
birds,  fishes,  quadrupeds,  insects,  and  minerals ;  the  che- 
mical affinities  of  bodies ;  can  measure  star  from  star ; 
analyse  invisible  substances  ;  detail  in  ch^nological  order 
the  rise  and  fall  of  nations,  with  their  arts,  sciences,  and 
sects  of  philosophy.  He  can  do  all  this,  and  more  ;  and 
yet,  perhaps,  is  there  neither  arrangement  in  his  know- 
ledge, distinctness  in  his  ideas,  nor  accuracy  in  his  lan- 
guage. And,  while  possessed  of  many  valuable  facts, 
there  is  blended  with  all  and  with  each,  a  thousand  illu- 
sions. Thus  it  is  that  so  many  wordy  pedants,  and  hare- 
brained or  shallow  disputants,  are  sent  forth  from  the 
schools  of  aU  coimtries,  while  those  who  do  honour  to 
their  species,  by  rendering  service  in  their  generation,  are, 


LECT.  I.]      NATURE  OF  KNOWLEDGE.  25 

most  generally,  what  is  called  self-taught.  And  the  reason 
of  this  is  evident.  Our  existing  modes  of  education,  being 
equally  false  and  deficient,  and  the  instruction  of  our 
schools  full  of  fallacies,  theories,  and  hypotheses,  the  more 
regularly  a  youth  is  trained  in  fashionable  learning,  the 
more  confused  is  usually  his  perception  of  things,  and  the 
more  prostrated  his  reason  by  the  dogmatism  of  teachers, 
the  sophism  of  words,  and  the  false  principles  engrafted 
by  means  of  pretended  science,  ostentatiously  inculcated, 
or  real  science,  erroneously  imparted.  While,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  vigorous  intellect,  if  stimulated  by  fortunate 
circumstances  to  enquiry,  and  left  to  accumulate  informa- 
tion by  the  efforts  of  its  own  industry,  though  its  early 
progress  may  be  slow,  and  its  aberrations  numerous,  yet 
in  the  free  exercise  of  its  powers,  is  more  likely  to  coUect 
accurate  knowledge,  than  those  who  are  methodically  fed 
with  learned  error  and  learnedly  disguised  truth. 

I  shall  have  occasion,  in  a  more  advanced  stage  of  our 
enquiries,  to  examine  minutely  the  errors  in  the  existing 
mode  of  instruction,  and  which  are  of  a  nature  to  perplex 
the  human  mind  from  infancy  to  age,  and  to  make 
even  learning  an  additional  stumbling  block  in  the  way 
of  knowledge.  For  the  present,  I  would  confine  myself 
to  the  establishing  the  simple  position,  that  all  real  know- 
ledge is  derived  from  positive  sensations. 

In  proportion  to  the  number  of  senses  we  bring  to  bear 
upon  an  object,  is  the  degree  of  our  acquaintance  with  that 
object.  Whatever  we  see,  and  feel,  and  attentively  exa- 
mine with  all  our  senses,  we  know  ;  and  respecting  the 
things  thus  investigated,  we  can  afterwards  form  a  correct 
opinion.  Wherever,  respecting  such  things,  our  opinions 
are  erroneous,  it  is  where  our  investigation  of  them  has 
been  insufficient,  or  our  recollection  of  them  imperfect ; 
c  4 


26  NATURE    OP    KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  I. 

and  the  only  certain  way  of  rectifying  the  error,  is  to  refer 
again  to  the  object  itself. 

Things  which  we  have  not  ourselves  examined,  and 
occurrences  which  we  have  not  ourselves  witnessed,  but 
which  we  receive  on  the  attested  sensations  of  others,  we 
may  believe,  but  we  do  not  know.  Now,  as  these  two 
modes  of  intellectual  assent  are  generally,  if  not  univer- 
sally, confounded;  and,  as  their  accurate  distinction  is,  in 
its  consequences,  of  immense  importance,  I  shall  risk  the 
straining  of  your  attention  for  a  few  minutes,  while  I  at- 
tempt its  elucidation. 

To  select  a  familiar,  and  at  the  moment  a  pertinent 
example.  The  present  audience  know  that  an  individual 
is  now  addressing  them,  because  they  see  her  person,  and 
hear  her  voice.  They  may  believe  that  some  other  speaker 
occupies  the  pulpit  of  a  church  in  this  town,  if  assured  to 
that  effect  by  a  person  of  ordinary  veracity ;  but,  let  the 
testimony  of  that  person  be  as  well  substantiated  in  their 
opinion  as  possible,  the  fact  received  through  his  reported 
sensations,  they  would  believe  ;  the  fact  of  my  presence, 
admitted  upon  their  own  sensations,  they  will  know. 

My  hearers  will  imderstand  that  my  object  in  presenting 
these  definitions,  is  not  to  draw  a  mere  verbal  distinction, 
but  a  distinction  between  different  states  of  the  human 
mind ;  the  distinction  in  words  only  being  important,  in 
that  it  is  necessary  to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  mental 
phenomena  it  is  desirable  to  illustrate. 

Did  the  limits  of  our  present  discourse  permit  such  a 
developement,  or  did  I  not  apprehend  to  weary  the  atten- 
tion, it  would  not  be  difficidt  to  draw  the  line  between 
knowledge  and  behef,  and  again  between  the  different 
grades  of  belief,  through  all  the  varieties  of  intellectual 
assent  fi:om  the  matter  of  fact  certainty  suppUed   by 


LECT.  I.]      NATURE  OF  KNOWLEDGE.  27 

knowledge,  down  to  the  lowest  stage  of  probability,  sup- 
plied by  belief.  But  having  suggested  the  distinction, 
I  must  leave  you  to  draw  it  for  yourselves;  requesting 
you  only  to  observe — that,  as  your  own  positive  sensa- 
tions can  alone  give  you  knowledge  of  a  thing,  so  is  your 
belief  of  any  thing  stronger,  in  proportion  as  you  can 
more  accurately  establish,  or  approach  nearer  to,  the 
sensations  of  those  whose  testimony  you  receive. 

Thus:  if  a  friend,  or,  more  particularly,  if  several 
friends,  of  tried  veracity  and  approved  judgment,  relate  to 
us  a  circumstance  of  which  they  declare  themselves  to 
have  been  attentive  spectators — our  belief  is  of  the  highest 
kind.  If  they  relate  a  circumstance  which  they  shall 
have  received  from  another,  or  from  other  individuals,  for 
whose  veracity  and  judgment  they  also  vouch,  our  belief, 
though  in  a  measure  accorded,  is  very  considerably 
weakened ;  and  so  on,  until,  after  a  few  more  removes 
from  the  original  sensations  of  the  reported  spectators,  our 
belief  is  reduced  to  zero. 

But  farther,  it  is  here  of  importance  to  observe  that  be- 
lief— ^that  is.  the  belief  of  a  well  trained  mind — can  never 
be  accorded  to  the  attested  sensations  of  others,  should  those 
attested  sensations  be  contradicted  by  our  own  well  estab- 
lished experience,  or  by  the  unvarying  and  agreeing  expe- 
rience of  mankind.  Thus :  should  one,  or  twenty,  or  a 
thousand  individuals,  swear  to  the  fact  of  having  seen  a 
man,  by  effort  of  his  unaided  volition,  raise  himself  through 
the  air  to  the  top  of  a  steeple  in  this  city,  we  should  believe 
— ^what  ?  Not  the  eccentric  occurrence,  however  attested, 
but  one  of  two  very  common  occurrences — either  that  the 
individuals  were  seeking  to  impose  upon  us,  or  that  their 
own  ignorant  credulity  had  been  deceived  by  false  appear- 
ances. 

But  now  let  us  suppose  a  case,  very  likely  to  be  pre- 


riBfii 


B8  NATURE    OP   KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  I. 

Bented  in  form  of  an  objection,  although  in  reality  capable 
of  furnishing  a  forcible  elucidation  of  the  simple  truth  we 
are  now  attempting  to  illustrate.  Let  us  suppose  that 
some  of  our  organs  should  become  diseased — those  of 
sight,  for  instance ;  and  that  we  should,  in  consequence, 
imagine  the  appearance  of  an  object,  not  perceptible  to 
more  healthy  individuals.  If  the  phantasy  presented 
nothing  uncommon  in  any  of  its  parts,  or  inconsistent 
with  the  course  of  our  previous  sensations,  we  should  at 
first,  undoubtedly,  yield  credence  to  our  eyes ;  until,  in 
consequence,  perhaps,  of  some  incongruity,  we  should  be 
led  to  appeal  to  our  other  senses,  when,  if  they  did  not  con- 
cur with  the  testimony  of  our  vision,  we  should  distinguish 
the  appearance,  immediately,  for  the  effect  of  disease,  and 
apply  ourselves,  on  the  instant,  to  its  investigation  and 
remedy. 

But  again,  let  us  suppose  (a  case  by  no  means  uncommon 
in  the  history  of  human  pathology)  that  two  of  our  senses 
should  be  diseased— our  sight  and  our  hearing  ;  and  that 
wc  should  in  consequence  see  the  spectral  illusion  of  a 
human  being ;  and,  farther,  imagine  such  illusion  to  dis- 
course with  us.  Our  belief  would  be  now  strongly  ac- 
corded to  this  two-fold  evidence ;  but  we  should  still  have 
a  resource  in  our  sense  of  touch.  Should  this  last  not  con- 
firm the  evidence  suppUed  by  our  vision  and  our  hearing, 
we  should  suspect,  as  in  the  former  case,  the  health  of  our 
organs,  and  consult  on  the  subject  with  an  able  physician. 

But  now  let  us  suppose  that  all  the  organs  of  sense,  in 
some  individual,  should  become  suddenly  diseased,  and 
eight,  hearing,  feeling,  taste,  and  smell,  should  combine 
to  cheat  him  into  the  belief  of  existences  not  perceptible 
to  the  more  healthy  sensations  of  his  fellow  creatures.  I 
do  not  conceive  that  such  an  individual,  however  natural- 
ly strong  or  highly  cultivated  his  judgment,  and  even 


LECT.  I.]      NATURE  OP  KNOWLEDGE.  29 

supposing  his  judgment  to  retain  its  activity  in  the  midst 
of  the  general  disorder,  could  for  any  length  of  time  strug- 
gle with  the  delusion,  but  must  gradually  yield  intellectu- 
al assent  to  his  diseased  sensations,  however  incongruous 
these  might  be,  or  however  at  variance  with  past  experi- 
ence. I  conceive  that  an  individual  thus  diseased  in  all 
his  organs  of  sense,  must  rapidly  lose  all  control  over  his 
reasoning  faculties,  and  present,  consequently,  to  his  fel- 
low creatures,  the  afflicting  spectacle  of  one  labouring 
under  mental  insanity. 

If  we  look  to  the  unfortunate  maniac,  or  to  the  sufferer 
tossing  in  fever  dehrium,  we  shall  perceive  how  imphcit 
the  credence  given  to  his  diseased  sensations.  The  phan- 
toms which  he  hears,  and  feels,  and  sees,  are  all  realities 
to  him,  and,  as  realities,  govern  his  thoughts  and  decide 
his  actions.  How,  in  such  cases,  does  the  enlightened 
physician  proceed  ?  He  does  not  argue  with  the  incongru- 
ous ideas  of  his  patient ;  he  examines  his  disordered  frame, 
and  as  he  can  restore  healthy  action  to  all  its  parts,  so 
does  he  hope  to  restore  healthy  sensations  to  the  body,  and 
accurate  ideas  to  the  mind.  Here,  then,  we  see,  in  sick- 
ness as  in  health,  our  sensations  supplying  us  with  all  our 
intellectual  food.  In  fever,  they  supply  us  with  dreams  ; 
in  health,  if  accurately  studied,  with  knowledge. 

The  object  of  these  observations  is  to  show,  that  as  we 
can  only  know  a  thing  by  its  immediate  contact  with  our 
senses,  so  is  all  knowledge  compounded  of  the  accurate- 
ly observed^  accumulated^  and  agreeing  sensatimis  of 
mankind. 

The  field  of  knowledge,  then,  we  have  observed  to  be 
the  field  of  nature,  or  of  material  existence  around  and 
within  us.  The  number  of  objects  comprised  within  the 
circle  of  human  observation,  is  so  multipUed,  and  the  pro- 
perties or  qualities  of  these  objects  so  diversified,  that  with 
c2 


^ 


80  NATURE    OF    KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  I. 

a  view  to  convenient  and  suitable  divisions  in  the  greal 
work  of  inspecting  the  whole,  and  also  with  a  view  to  the 
applying  more  order  and  method  in  the  arrangement  of 
the  facts  collated  in  the  wide  field  of  nature,  they  have 
been  classed  under  different  heads,  each  of  which  we  may 
call  a  branch  of  knowledge^  or,  more  succinctly,  a  science. 

Thus  :  do  we  consider  the  various  living  tribes  which 
people  the  elements?  We  class  our  observations  under  the 
head  of  natural  histoiy.  Do  we  direct  our  attention  to 
the  structure  and  mechanism  of  their  bodies  ?  We  desig- 
nate the  results  of  our  inspection  under  the  heads  anatomy 
and  physiology.  Do  we  trace  the  order  of  occurrences 
and  appearances  in  the  wide  field  of  nature  ?  We  note 
them  under  natural  philosophy.  Do  we  analyze  substan- 
ces and  search  out  their  simple  elements  ?  chemistry.  Do 
we  apply  ourselves  to  the  measurement  of  bodies,  or  cal- 
culate the  heights  and  distances  of  objects?  geometry. 
And  so  on,  through  all  the  range  of  human  observation, 
extending  from  the  relative  position  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  and  accurate  calculation  of  their  courses,  to  the 
uses,  habits,  structure,  and  physiology  of  the  dehcate  plant 
which  carpets  our  earth. 

Now,  all  the  sciences,  properly  so  called,  being  com- 
j^unded  of  facts,  ascertained  or  ascertainable  by  the  sen- 
sations of  each  individual,  so  all  that  is  not  so  ascertainable 
is  not  knowledge,  only  belief,  and  can  never  constitute  for 
us  matter  of  fact  certainty,  only  greater  or  less  probability. 
In  elucidation,  we  might  remark  that  the  facts  we  glean, 
in  the  study  of  chemistry,  supply  us  with  knowledge ; 
those  received  upon  testimony,  as  in  the  study  of  history, 
supply  us  with  probabilities,  or  with  improbabilities,  as  it 
may  be,  and  constitute  belief. 

Now,  again — as  our  knowledge  is  supplied  by  our  own 
individual  sensations,  and  our  beUef  by  the  attested  eensa- 


LECT.  I.]      NATURE  OF  KNOWLEDGE.  Zt 

tions  of  Others,  it  is  possible,  while  pretending  to  commu- 
nicate knowledge,  only  to  communicate  belief.  This  we 
know  to  be  the  system  pursued  in  all  our  schools  and 
colleges,  where  the  truths  of  the  most  demonstrable 
sciences  are  presented  under  the  disguise  of  oral  or  written 
lessons,  instead  of  being  exposed,  in  practical  illustrations, 
to  the  eye,  and  the  ear,  and  the  touch,  in  the  simple,  incon- 
trovertible fact.  This  method,  while  it  tends  to  hide  and 
perpetuate  the  errors  of  teachers,  so  does  it  also  incul- 
cate creduUty  and  blind  beUef  in  the  scholar,  and  fiinally 
establishes  the  conclusion  in  the  mind,  that  knowledge  is 
compounded  of  words,  and  signs,  and  intellectual  abstrac- 
tions, instead  of  facts  and  human  sensations. 

Greatly,  very  greatly  to  be  desired,  is  a  just  mode  of 
instruction.  It  would  not  only  shorten  the  road  of  know- 
ledge, it  would  carpet  it  with  flowers.  We  should  then 
tread  it  in  childhood  with  smiles  of  cheerfulness  ;  and,  as 
we  followed  its  pleasant  course,  horizon  after  horizon  would 
open  upon  us,  delighting  and  improving  our  minds  and 
feelings,  through  life,  unto  our  latest  hour.  But  if  it  is  of 
the  first  importance  to  be  launched  aright  in  infancy,  the 
moment  we  distinctly  perceive  what  knowledge  is,  we 
may,  at  any  age,  start  boldly  for  its  attainment. 

I  have  said,  we  may  start  boldly — ay  !  and  there  lies 
the  surety  of  our  success.  If  we  bring  not  the  good 
courage  of  minds  covetous  of  truth,  and  truth  only,  prepa- 
red to  hear  all  things,  examine  all  things,  and  decide  upon 
all  things,  according  to  evidence,  we  should  do  more  wisely 
to  sit  down  contented  in  ignorance,  than  to  bestir  ourselves 
only  to  reap  disappointment.  But  let  us  onCe  look  around 
upon  this  fair  material  world,  as  upon  the  book  which  it 
behoves  us  to  read ;  let  us  understand,  that  in  this  book 
there  are  no  puzzling  mysteries,  but  a  simple  train  of  occur- 
rences, which  it  imports  us  to  observe,  with  an  endless 


32  NATURE    OP   KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  I. 

variety  of  substances  and  existences,  which  it  imports  us 
to  study — what  is  there,  then,  to  frighten  us  ?  what  is 
there  not,  rather,  to  encourage  our  advance  ? 

Yet  how  far  are  we  from  this  simple  perception  of  sim- 
ple things  !  how  far  from  that  mental  composure  which 
can  alone  fit  us  for  enquiry  !  How  prone  are  we  to  come 
to  the  consideration  of  every  question  with  heads  and 
hearts  pre-occupied !  how  prone  to  shrink  from  any 
opinion,  however  reasonable,  if  it  be  opposed  to  any,  how- 
ever unreasonable,  of  our  own !  How  disposed  are  we  to 
judge,  in  anger,  those  who  call  upon  us  to  think,  and 
encourage  us  to  enquire !  To  question  our  prejudices 
seems  nothing  less  than  sacrilege ;  to  break  the  chains  of 
our  ignorance,  nothing  short  of  impiety  ! 

Perhaps  at  this  moment,  she  who  speaks  is  outraging  a 

prejudice — (shall   I   be   forgiven    the    word?)    Perhaps, 

\      among  those  who  hear  me,  there  are  who  deem  it  both  a 

presumption  and  an  impropriety  for  a  woman  to  reason 

with  her  fellow  creatures. 

Did  I  know,  of  a  surety,  this  prejudice  to  prevail  among 
my  hearers,  I  should,  indeed,  be  disposed  to  reason  with 
them.  I  should  be  tempted  to  ask,  whether  truth  had  any 
sex :  and  I  should  venture  farther  to  ask,  whether  they 
count  for  nothing,  for  something,  or  for  every  thing,  the 
influence  of  women  over  the  destinies  of  our  race. 

Shall  I  be  forgiven  for  adverting,  most  unwiUingly,  to 
myself?  Having  assumed  an  unusual  place,  I  feel,  that  to 
my  audience  some  explanation  is  due. 

Stimulated  in  my  early  youth,  by  I  know  not  what  of 
pitying  sympathy  with  human  suffering,  and  by  I  know 
not  what  persuasion,  that  our  race  was  not  of  necessity, 
born  to  ignorance,  and  its  companion,  vice,  but  that  it  pos- 
sessed faculties  and  quaUties  which  pointed  to  virtue  and 
enjoyment ;  stimulated,  at  once,  by  this  pity  for  the  actual 


LECT.  I.]      NATURE  OP  KNOWLEDGE.  33 

condition  of  man,  and  this  hope  of  a  possible  melioration, 
I  applied  myself  to  the  discovery  of  the  causes  of  the 
one,  and  of  the  means  for  effecting  the  other. 

I  have  as  little  the  inclination  to  obtrude  on  you  the 
process  of  investigation  and  course  of  observation  I  fol- 
lowed through  the  period  of  an  eventful  youth,  as  you 
would  probably  have  to  hsten  to  them.  Suffice  it,  that  I 
have  been  led  to  consider  the  growth  of  knowledge,  and 
the  equal  distribution  of  knowledge,  as  the  best — may  I 
say,  the  only  means  for  reforming  the  condition  of  man- 
kind. Shall  I  be  accused  of  presumption  for  imagining 
that  I  could  be  instrumental  in  promoting  this,  as  it  ap- 
pears to  me,  good  work?  Shall  I  appear  additionally 
presumptuous  for  beheving  that  my  sex  and  my  situation 
tend  rather  to  qualify  than  to  incapacitate  me  for  the  un- 
dertaking ? 

So  long  as  the  mental  and  moral  instruction  of  man  ia 
left  solely  in  the  hands  of  hired  servants  of  the  pubhc — 
let  them  be  teachers  of  religion,  professors  of  colleges, 
authors  of  books,  or  editors  of  journals  or  periodical  pub- 
lications, dependent  upon  their  hterary  labours  for  their 
daily  bread,  so  long  shall  we  hear  but  half  the  truth  ;  and 
well  if  we  hear  so  much.  Our  teachers,  political,  scientific, 
moral,  or  rehgious ;  our  writers,  grave  or  gay,  are  compelled 
to  administer  to  our  prejudices  and  to  perpetuate  our  igno- 
rance. They  dare  not  speak  that  which,  by  endangering 
their  popularity,  would  endanger  their  fortunes.  They 
have  to  discover  not  Avhat  is  true,  but  what  is  palatable  ; 
not  what  will  search  into  the  hearts  and  minds  of  their 
hearers,  but  what  will  open  their  purse  strings.  They 
have  to  weigh  every  sentiment  before  they  hazard  it,  every 
word  before  they  pronounce  it,  lest  they  wound  some 
cherished  vanity  or  aim  at  some  favorite  vice.  A  familiar 
instance  will  bring  this  home  to  an  American  audience, 

5 


14  NATURE    OP    KNOWLEDGE.  IlECT.  I. 

I  have  been  led  to  inspect,  far  and  wide,  the  extensive 
and  beautiful  section  of  this  country  which  is  afflicted 
with  slavery.  I  have  heard  in  the  cities,  villages,  and 
forests  of  this  afflicted  region,  religious  shepherds  of  all 
persuasions  haranguing  their  flocks ;  and  I  have  never 
heard  one  bold  enough  to  comment  on  the  evil  which 
saps  the  industry,  vitiates  the  morals,  and  threatens  the 
tranquiUity  of  the  country.  The  reason  of  this  forbear- 
ance is  evident.  The  master  of  the  slave  is  he  who  pays 
the  preacher,  and  the  preacher  must  not  irritate  his  pay- 
master. I  would  not  here  be  understood  to  express  the 
opinion,  that  the  preaching  of  religious  teachers  against 
slavery  would  be  desirable.  I  am  convinced  of  the  con- 
trary— convinced  that  it  would  be  of  direful  mischief  to  both 
parties,  the  oppressor  and  the  oppressed.  To  judge  from 
the  tone  but  too  generally  employed  by  religious  writers 
in  the  northern  states,  where  (as  denunciation  against  the 
vice  of  the  south  risks  no  patronage  and  wins  cheap  credit 
for  humanity)  negro  philanthropy  is  not  so  scarce — to 
judge,  I  sayj  from  the  tone  employed  by  northern  reli- 
gionists, when  speaking  of  their  southern  neighbours,  and 
their  national  crime  and  affliction,  one  must  suppose  them  as 
Uttle  capable  of  counseUing  foreign  as  home  offenders — as 
little  capable  of  advising  in  wisdom  as  of  judging  in  mercy 
or  speaking  with  gentleness.  The  harshest  physician  with 
which  I  am  acquainted  is  the  religious  physician.  Instead 
of  soothing,  he  irritates ;  instead  of  convincing,  he  disgusts ; 
instead  of  weighing  circumstances,  tracing  causes,  allow- 
ing for  the  bias  of  early  example,  the  constraining  force 
of  implanted  prejudice,  the  absence  of  every  judicious 
stimulus,  and  the  presence  of  every  bad  one ;  he  arraigns, 
tries,  convicts,  condemns — ^himself  accuser,  jury,  judge,  and 
executioner;  nobly  immolating  interests  which  are  not  his, 
generously  commanding  sacrifices  which  he  has  not  to 


LECT.  I.]  NATURE   OP   KNOWLEDGE.  35 

share,  indignantly  anathematizing  crimes  which  he  can- 
not commit,  and  virtuously  kindling  the  fires  of  hell  to  con- 
sume sirmers,  to  whose  sins,  as  he  is  without  temptation, 
so /or  whose  sins  he  is  without  s)m(ipathy.  1  would  not 
be  understood,  therefore,  as  regretting  in  this  matter  the 
supineness  of  the  southern  clergy ;  I  would  only  point  it 
out  to  you,  desirous  that  you  should  observe  how  well  the 
tribe  of  Levi  know  when  and  where  to  smite,  and  when 
and  where  to  spare ! 

And  though  I  have  quoted  an  instance  more  peculiarly 
familiar  to  Americans,  every  country  teems  with  similar 
examples.  The  master  vice,  wherever  or  whatever  itiA 
be,  is  never  touched.  In  licentious  aristocracies,  or  to  look 
no  farther  than  the  towns  and  cities  of  these  states,  the  rich 
and  pampered  few  are  ever  spared,  or  so  gently  dealt  with, 
as  rather  agreeably  to  tickle  the  ear,  than  to  probe  tlie 
conscience,  while  the  crimes  of  the  greatly  tempted,  great- 
ly suffering  poor,  are  visited  with  unrelenting  rigor. 

Is  any  discovery  made  in  science,  tending  to  open  to  us 
farther  the  book  of  knowledge,  and  to  purge  our  minds  of 
superstitious  behefs  in  occult  causes  and  unsubstantiated 
creeds — ^where  has  it  ever  found  opposers— or,  might  we 
not  say,  persecutors  ?  Even  among  our  hired  preachers  and 
licensed  teachers  of  old  doctrines  and  old  ways.  Is  any 
enquiry  instituted  into  the  truth  of  received  opinions  and 
the  advantage  of  existing  practice — who  are  the  last  to 
encourage  it  ?  nay,  the  foremost  to  cry  out  "  heresy  !"  and 
stop  the  mouth  of  knowledge  ?  Who  but  those  who  live 
by  the  ignorance  of  the  age,  and  the  intolerance  of  the 
hour?  Is  any  improvement  suggested  in  our  social  ar- 
rangements, calculated  to  equalize  property,  labour,  in- 
struction, and  enjoyment ;  to  destroy  crime  by  removing 
provocation  ;  vice,  by  removing  ignorance  ;  and  to  build 
up  virtue  in  the  human  breast  by  exchanging  the  spirit  of 


36.  NATURE    OP    KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  I, 

self  abasement  for  that  of  self  respect — ^who  are  the  fore- 
most to  treat  the  suggestions  as  visionary,  the  reform  as 
impossible  ?  Even  they  who  live  by  the  fears  and  the  vices 
of  their  fellow  creatures ;  and  who  obtain  their  subsist- 
ence on  earth  by  opening  and  shutting  the  door  of  heaven. 

Nor,  as  we  have  seen,  are  our  licensed  and  pensioned 
teachers  the  only  individuals  interested  in  disguising  the 
truth.  All  who  write  for  the  public  market,  all  who  plead 
in  our  courts  of  law,  all  who  harangue  in  our  halls  of 
legislature,  all  who  are,  or  who  aspire  to  be,  popular  ser- 
vants or  popular  teachers  of  the  people,  all  are  compelled 
to  the  support  of  existing  opinions,  whether  right  or  wrong 
— all,  more  or  less,  do,  and,  more  or  less,  must,  pander  to 
the  weaknesses,  vices,  and  prejudices  of  the  pubUc,  who 
pays  them  with  money  or  applause. 

I  have  said  not  only  that  they  do,  but  that  they  must ; 
and  most  assuredly  they  must  conciUate  the  popular  feel- 
ing, or  forego  the  popular  favour.  Here  is  intended  no 
satire  upon  any  individuals,  professions,  nor  employments. 
The  object  is  merely  to  expose  a  fact,  but  a  fact  highly  im- 
portant to  be  known ;  that  as,  to  be  popular,  men  must  not 
speak  truths,  so,  when  we  would  hear  truths,  we  must 
seek  them  from  other  mouths  and  other  pens  than  those 
which  are  dependent  upon  popular  patronage,  or  wliich 
are  ambitious  of  popular  admiration. 

And  here,  then,  is  the  cause  why  I  have  presumed  to 
reason  with  my  fellow  creatures  ;  why,  in  my  earliest 
years,  I  devoted  myself  to  the  study  of  their  condition, 
past  and  present ;  why  I  searched  into  their  powers  and 
their  capabilities,  examined  their  practice,  and  weighed 
their  opinions ;  and  why,  when  I  found  these  both  wanting, 
I  volunteered  to  declare  it.  I  beheve  that  I  see  some 
tjruths  important  for  my  fellow  beings  to  know;  I  feel  that 
I  have  the  courage  and  the  independence  to  speak  that 


LECT.  I.]      NATURE  OP  KNOWLEDGE.  37 

which  I  believe ;  and  where  is  the  friend  to  his  species 
that  will  not  say,  '■^  Happy ^  most  happy  shall  it  he  for 
human  kind,  when  all  independent  individuals,  fnale 
or  f empale,  citizens  07'  foreigners,  shall  feel  the  debt  of 
kindness  they  owe  to  their  fellow  beings,  and  fearless- 
ly step  forth  to  reveal  unbought  truths  and  hazard 
unpopidar  opinions." 

Until  this  be  done,  and  done  ably,  fearlessly,  and  fre- 
quently, the  reign  of  human  error  must  continue ;  and, 
with  human  error,  human  vice,  and  human  suffering. 
The  advocates  of  just  knowledge  must  be  armed  with 
courage  to  dare  all  things,  and  to  bear  all  things,  for  the 
truths  they  revere;  and  to  seek,  as  they  may  only  find, 
the  reward  of  their  exertions  in  the  impression,  great  or 
little,  slow  or  rapid,  as  it  may  be,  which  their  exertions 
may  produce  on  public  opinion,  and,  through  the  public 
opinion,  on  the  public  practice. 

We  have  now  sufficiently  considered,  so  far  as  I  have 
found  possible  in  a  single  discourse  on  so  wide  a  topic,  the 
main  subject  of  our  introductory  enquiries :  viz.  the  na- 
ture and  object  of  just  knowledge.  We  have  examined, 
also,  some  of  the  errors  vulgarly  entertained  on  the  subject, 
and  many  of  the  impediments  which  now  obstruct  our 
advances  in  the  road  of  improvement.  We  have  seen 
that  just  knowledge  is  easy  of  acquirement,  but  that  few 
are  interested  in  revealing  its  simple  principles  ;  while 
many  are  driven  by  circumstances  to  interpret  or  dissemble 
them.  We  have  remarked  that,  to  accelerate  the  progress 
of  our  race,  two  means  present  themselves  ;  a  just  system 
of  education,  and  a  fearless  spirit  of  enquiry ;  and  that 
while  the  former  would  remove  all  difficulties  from  the 
path  of  future  generations,  the  latter  would  place  far  in 
advance  even  the  present.  We  have  also  observed  on  the 
advantage  which  would  accrue  to  mankind,  if  all  inde- 

D 


Hi  NATtTRE   OP  KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.   I. 

^ndent  individuals  would  volunteer  the  task,  for  which 
Appointed  teachers  and  professional  men  are  now  but  too 
frequently  unfit,  by  devoting  themselves  to  the  promulga- 
tion of  truth,  without  regard  to  fashionable  prejudice.  I 
have  been  led,  also,  incidentally  to  advert  to  the  influence 
exerted  over  the  fortunes  of  our  race  by  those  who  are  too 
often  overlooked  in  our  social  arrangements  and  in  our 
civil  rights — I  allude  to  women. 

Leaving  to  a  ftiture  opportunity  the  more  complete  de- 
velopement  of  the  important  subject,  we  have  this  evening 
approached — the  nature  of  all  knowledge — as  well  as  the 
equally  important  subject  of  youthful  education,  I  shall,  at 
our  next  meeting,  consider  the  other  two  enumerated 
means  of  improvement,  viz.  by  free  enquiry.  And  as  this 
is  for  us  of  the  present  generation  the  only  means,  so  shall 
I  endeavour  to  show  how  much  it  is  our  interest,  and  how 
imperiously  it  is  our  duty,  to  improve  it  to  the  uttermost. 

It  is  with  delight  that  I  have  distinguished,  at  each  suc- 
cessive meeting,  the  increasing  ranks  of  my  own  sex. 
Were  the  vital  principle  of  human  equality  universally 
acknowledged,  it  would  be  to  my  fellow  beings  without 
regard  to  nation,  class,  sect,  or  sex,  that  I  should  delight  to 
address  myself.  But  until  equahty  prevail  in  condition, 
opportunity,  and  instruction,  it  is  every  where  to  the  least 
favored  in  these  advantages,  that  I  most  especially  and 
anxiously  incline. 

Nor  is  the  ignorance  of  our  sex  matter  of  surprise, 
when  efforts,  as  violent  as  imrelaxed,  are  every  where 
made  for  its  continuance. 

It  is  not  as  of  yore.  Eve  puts  not  forth  her  hand  to 
gather  the  fair  fruit  of  knowledge.  The  wily  serpent  now 
hath  better  learned  his  lesson ;  and,  to  secure  his  reign  in 
the  garden,  beguileth  her  not  to  eat.  Promises,  entrea- 
ties, threats,  tales  of  wonder,  and,  alas !  tales  of  horror, 


LECT.  I.]      NATURE  OF  KNOWLEDGE;  99 

are  all  poured  in  her  tender  ears.  Above,  her  agitated 
fancy  hears  the  voice  of  a  god  in  thunders ;  below,  she 
sees  the  yawning  pit ;  and,  before,  behind,  around,  a  thou* 
sand  phantoms,  conjured  from  the  prolific  brain  of  insatiate 
priestcraft,  confound,  alarm,  and  overwhelm  her  reason ! 

Oh  !  were  that  worst  evil  withdrawn  which  now  weighs 
upon  our  race,  how  rapid  were  its  progress  in  knowledge ! 
Oh !  were  men — and,  yet  more,  women,  absolved  from 
fear,  how  easily  and  speedily  and  gloriously  would  they 
hold  on  their  course  in  improvement !  The  difficulty  is 
not  to  convince,  it  is  to  win  attention.  Could  truth  only 
be  heard,  the  conversion  of  the  ignorant  were  easy.  And 
well  do  the  hired  supporters  of  error  understand  this  fact. 
Well  do  they  know,  that  if  the  daughters  of  the  present, 
and  mothers  of  the  future  generation,  were  to  drink  of  the 
living  waters  of  knowledge,  their  reign  would  be  ended — 
"  their  occupation  gone."  So  well  do  they  know  it,  that, 
far  from  obeying  to  the  letter  the  command  of  their  spiri- 
tual leader,  "  Be  ye  fishers  of  men,"  we  find  them  every 
where  Jishers  of  women.  Their  own  sex,  old  and  young, 
they  see  with  indifference  swim  by  their  nets  ;  but  closely 
and  warily  are  their  meshes  laid,  to  entangle  the  female 
of  every  age. 

Fathers  and  husbands  !  do  ye  not  also  understand  this 
fact  ?  Do  ye  not  see  how,  in  the  mental  bondage  of  your 
wives  and  fair  companions,  ye  yourselves  are  bound? 
Will  ye  fondly  sport  yourselves  in  your  imagined  liberty, 
and  say,  "  it  matters  not  if  our  women  be  mental  slaves  7" 
Will  ye  pleasure  yourselves  in  the  varied  paths  of  know- 
ledge, and  imagine  that  women,  hoodwinked  and  unawa- 
kened,  will  make  the  better  servants  and  the  easier  play- 
things ?  They  are  greatly  in  error  who  so  strike  the  ac- 
count; as  many  a  bankrupt  merchant  and  sinking  mecha> 
nic,  not  to  say  drowning  capitalist,  could  bear  witness. 


40  NATURE   OP   KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  I. 

But,  setting  aside  dollars  and  cents,  which  men,  in  their 
present  uncomfortable  state  of  existence,  are  but  too  prone 
exclusively  to  regard,  how  many  nobler  interests  of  the 
mind  and  the  heart  cry  "treason  !"  to  this  false  calculation? 
At  our  next  meeting,  we  shall  consider  these  interests, 
which  will  naturally  present  themselves  during  our  inves- 
tigations on  the  subject  of  free  enquiry.  In  what  just 
knowledge  consists  we  have  cursorily  examined ;  to  put 
ourselves  in  the  way  of  attaining  that  knowledge,  be  our 
next  object. 


% 


I.ECTURE  n. 


OF  FREE  ENCIUIRY  CONSIDERED  AS  A  MEANS  FOR 
OBTAINING  JUST  KNOWLEDGE. 

The  subject  we  have  to  examine  this  evening,  is  that 
of  free  enquiry,  considered  as  a  means  for  the  attainment 
of  just  knowledge. 

At  our  last  meeting,  we  endeavoured  to  investigate  the 
nature  and  object  of  just  knowledge,  together  with  the 
means  proper  for  its  attainment.  We  discovered  these 
means  to  be  two  ;  a  judicious  education,  and  a  free  spirit 
of  enquiry. 

From  the  first  and  best  means,  a  judicious  education, 
we  of  the  present  generation  are  unfortunately  excluded. 
Wherever  our  lot  may  have  been  cast,  or  whatever  may 
be  our  attainments,  we  must  all  be  conscious  that  we  are 
what  we  are  in  spite  of  many  disadvantages  ;  and  that, 
however  wise  or  good  our  vanity  may  pronounce  us  to  be, 
we  should  have  been  much  wiser,  and,  consequently,  better 
and  happier,  had  a  judicious  education  more  carefully  de- 
veloped our  tender  faculties,  and  brought  order  and  accu- 
racy to  all  our  nascent  ideas.  But  the  forest  is  grown ;  and, 
straight  or  crooked,  the  trees  have  to  stand  pretty  much  as 
early  circumstances  have  inclined  them.  Still,  something 
may  be  done ;  nay  !  if  we  bring  fearless  and  determined 
spirits  to  the  work,  much  may  be  done — much  for  our- 
selves, and  every  thing  for  our  descendants.  It  rests  with 
us  to  command,  for  the  rising  generation,  that  education, 
d2  6 


42  FREE    ENQUIRY.  [lECT.  II. 

whose  want  we,  in  our  own  case,  deplore.  It  rests  with 
us  to  open,  with  a  golden  key,  the  gates  of  just  knowledge 
for  our  children  ;  and  to  marshal  them  in  those  smooth, 
broad,  pleasant  paths,  which  we  ourselves  have  never  trod. 
Equally  true  it  is,  that  we  cannot,  for  ourselves,  command 
that  first,  best  means  for  attaining  the  first,  best  good. 
Our  opinions  have,  unfortunately,  to  be  changed,  not 
simply  formed ;  our  advance  in  knowledge  must  involve 
forgetting  as  well  as  acquiring.  We  have  not,  in  our  own 
minds,  to  till  a  virgin  soil,  but  one  surcharged  with  weeds, 
rank,  entangled,  and  poisonous.  Still  it  is  ours  to  redeem 
the  soil.  We  may  set  the  edge  of  our  ploughshares,  apply 
them  with  a  steady  and  nervous  hand,  and  scatter  the 
good  seed  in  time  to  reap  a  harvest. 

The  second  means  for  the  attainment  of  knowledge  is 
ours,  if  we  choose  to  exercise  it ;  that  is,  if  we  feel  the 
importance  of  the  object,  and  have  courage  to  employ  the 
means.  The  importance  of  the  object  we  must  feel,  if 
we  feel  at  all  for  ourselves  or  for  our  race  ;  if  we  are  not 
wholly  indifferent  to  the  rank  we  hold  in  the  scale  of 
being ;  not  wholly  indifferent  to  our  moral  excellence,  to 
our  mental  elevation;  to  our  own  peace,  to  our  own 
utility ;  to  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  our  species  through 
all  the  ages  of  time  to  come.  And,  if  such  be  the  mighty 
consequences  depending  on  the  object,  shall  we  lack  the 
courage  to  employ  the  means?  And  what  means?  to 
open  our  eyes  and  our  ears ;  to  throw  wide  the  gates  of 
our  understanding ;  to  dare  the  exercise  of  our  intellectual 
faculties,  and  to  encourage  in  others,  as  in  ourselves,  a 
habit  of  accurate  and  dispassionate  investigation. 

We  have  seen,  also,  that  it  is  not  our  own  improvement 
merely  that  must  be  advanced  or  impeded  according  to 
our  courage  or  timidity,  but  that  of  future  generations, 
whose  destiny  it  is  ours  to  influence.    Strongly,  then,  are 


LECT.  II.J  PEEE   ENQUIRY.  43 

we  pledged  to  lay  aside  indolence  and  fear ;  and  to  en- 
gage honestly  in  the  task  of  weeding  out  our  prejudices 
and  establishing  our  opinions. 

There  is  a  common  error  that  I  feel  myself  called  upon 
to  notice ;  nor  know  I  the  country  in  which  it  is  more 
prevalent  than  in  this.  Whatever  indifference  may  gene- 
rally prevail  among  men,  still  there  are  many  eager  for  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge ;  willing  to  enquire,  and  anxious 
to  base  their  opinions  upon  correct  principles.  In  the 
curiosity  which  motives  their  exertions,  however,  the  vital 
principle  is  but  too  often  wanting.  They  come  selfishly, 
and  not  generously,  to  the  tree  of  knowledge.  They  eat, 
but  care  not  to  impart  of  the  fruit  to  others.  Nay,  there 
are  who,  having  leaped  the  briar  fence  of  prejudice  them- 
selves, will  heap  new  thorns  in  the  way  of  those  who 
would  venture  the  same. 

And  have  Americans  yet  to  learn  that  the  interests  of 
all  are  compounded  of  the  interests  of  each?  and  that 
he  who,  in  pursuing  his  own  advantage,  immolates  one  in- 
terest of  his  fellow  beings,  fails  in  justice  as  a  man,  com- 
mits treason  as  a  citizen  ?  And  oh  !  what  interest  so  dear 
as  that  of  mental  improvement  ?  Who  is  without  that  in- 
terest ?  or  of  whom  is  not  that  interest  sacred  'I  Man,  wo- 
man, child — ^who  has  not  a  claim  to  the  exercise  of  his 
reason  7  or  what  injustice  may  compare  with  that  which 
says  to  one,  "  thought  is  good  for  thee,"  and  to  another, 
"  knowledge  is  to  thee  forbidden  ?" 

But  will  this  imputation  startle  my  hearers  ?  Will  they 
say,  America  is  the  home  of  liberty,  and  Americans  bre- 
thren in  equality.  Is  it  so  ?  and  may  we  not  ask  here, 
as  elsewhere,  how  many  are  there,  not  anxious  to  mono- 
polize, but  to  universalize  knowledge?  how  many,  that  con- 
sider their  own  improvement  in  relation  always  with  that 
of  their  fellow  beings,  and  who  feel  the  imparting  of  truth 


^  FREE    ENQUIRY.  [lECT.  II. 

to  be  not  a  work  of  supererogation,  but  a  duty  ;  the  with- 
holding itj  not  a  venial  omission,  but  a  treachery  to  the 
race.  Which  of  us  have  not  seen  fathers  of  families  pur- 
suing investigations  themselves,  which  they  hide  from  their 
sons,  and,  more  especially,  from  their  wives  and  daugh- 
ters ?  As  if  truth  could  be  of  less  importance  to  the  young 
than  to  the  old;  or  as  if  the  sex  which  in  all  ages  has 
ruled  the  destinies  of  the  world,  could  be  less  worth  en- 
lightening than  that  which  only  follows  its  lead  ! 

The  observation  I  have  hazarded  may  require  some  ex- 
planation. Those  who  arrogate  power  usually  think 
themselves  superior  de  facto  and  de  jure.  Yet  justly  might 
it  be  made  a  question  whether  those  who  ostensibly  govern 
are  not  always  unconsciously  led.  Should  we  examine 
closely  into  the  state  of  things,  we  might  find  that,  in  all 
countries,  the  governed  decide  the  destinies  of  the  governors, 
more  than  the  governors  those  of  the  governed;  even  as 
the  labouring  classes  influence  more  directly  the  fortunes 
of  a  nation  than  does  the  civil  officer,  the  aspiring  states- 
man, the  rich  capitalist,  or  the  speculative  philosopher. 

However  novel  it  may  appear,  T  shall  venture  the  asser- 
tion, that,  until  women  assume  the  place  in  society  which 
good  sense  and  good  feeUng  aUke  assign  to  them,  human 
improvement  must  advance  but  feebly.  It  is  in  vain  that 
we  would  circumscribe  the  power  of  one  half  of  our  race, 
and  that  half  by  far  the  most  important  and  influential. 
If  they  exert  it  not  for  good,  they  will  for  evil ;  if  they 
advance  not  knowledge,  they  will  perpetuate  ignorance. 
Let  women  stand  where  they  may  in  the  scale  of  im- 
provement, their  position  decides  that  of  the  race.  Are 
they  cultivated  ? — so  is  society  polished  and  enlightened. 
Are  they  ignorant  ? — so  is  it  gross  and  insipid.  Are  they 
wise  ? — so  is  the  human  condition  prosperous.  Are 
they  foohsh? — so  is  it  unstable  and  unpromising.    Are  they 


LECT.  II.]  FREE    ENCIUIRY.  45 

free? — so  is  the  human  character  elevated.  Are  they 
enslaved? — so  is  the  whole  race  degraded.  Oh  !  that  we 
could  learn  the  advantage  of  just  practice  and  consistent 
principles  !  that  we  could  understand,  that  every  depar- 
ture from  principle,  how  speciously  soever  it  may  appear 
to  administer  to  our  selfish  interests,  invariably  saps  their 
very  foundation  !  that  we  could  learn  that  what  is  ruinous 
to  some  is  injurious  to  aU ;  and  that  whenever  we  establish 
our  own  pretensions  upon  the  sacrificed  rights  of  others, 
we  do  in  fact  impeach  our  own  liberties,  and  lower  our- 
selves in  the  scale  of  being  ! 

But  to  return.  It  is  my  object  to  show,  that,  before  we 
can  engage  successfully  in  the  work  of  enquiry,  we  must 
engage  in  a  body ;  we  must  engage  collectively ;  as  human 
beings  desirous  of  attaining  the  highest  excellence  of  which 
our  nature  is  capable  ;  as  children  of  one  family,  anxious 
to  discover  the  true  and  the  useful  for  the  common  advan- 
tage of  all.  It  is  my  farther  object  to  show  that  no 
co-operation  in  this  matter  can  be  effective  which  does  not 
embrace  the  two  sexes  on  a  footing  of  equahty;  and, 
again,  that  no  co-operation  in  this  matter  can  be  effective, 
which  does  not  embrace  human  beings  on  a  footing  of 
equality.  Is  this  a  republic — a  country  whose  affairs  are 
governed  by  the  public  voice — while  the  public  mind  is 
unequally  enlightened  ?  Is  this  a  republic,  where  the  in- 
terests of  the  many  keep  in  check  those  of  the  few — 
while  the  few  hold  possession  of  the  courts  of  knowledge, 
and  the  many  stand  as  suitors  at  the  door?  Is  this  a  repub- 
lic, where  the  rights  of  all  are  equally  respected,  the  inte- 
rests of  all  equally  secured,  the  ambitions  of  all  equally 
regulated,  the  services  of  all  equally  rendered?  Is  this 
such  a  republic — while  we  see  endowed  colleges  for  the 
rich,  and  barely  common  schools  for  the  poor ;  while  but 
one  drop  of  colored  blood  shall  stamp  a  fellow  creature  for 


46  FUEE    ENQUIRY.  [lECT.  II. 

a  slave,  or,  at  the  least,  degrade  him  below  sympathy;  and 
while  one  half  of  the  whole  population  is  left  in  civil  bon- 
dage, and,  as  it  were,  sentenced  to  mental  imbecility  ? 

Let  us  pause  to  enquire  if  this  be  consistent  with  the 
being  of  a  repubUc.  Without  knowledge,  could  your 
fathers  have  conquered  liberty  ?  and  without  knowledge, 
can  you  retain  it  ?  Equality  !  where  is  it,  if  not  in  educa- 
tion ?  Equal  rights !  they  cannot  exist  without  equality 
of  instruction.  "  All  men  are  born  free  and  equal !"  they 
are  indeed  so  born,  but  do  they  so  live  ?  Are  they  educated 
as  equals  7  and,  if  not,  can  they  be  equal  ?  and,  if  not 
equal,  can  they  be  free?  Do  not  the  rich  command  in- 
struction ?  and  they  who  have  instruction,  must  they  not 
possess  the  power  ?  and  when  they  have  the  power,  will 
they  not  exert  it  in  their  own  favor  ?  I  will  ask  more ;  I 
will  ask,  do  they  not  exert  it  in  their  own  favor  ?  I  will  ask 
if  two  professions  do  not  now  rule  the  land  and  its  in- 
habitants ?  I  will  ask,  whether  your  legislatures  are  not 
governed  by  lawyers  and  your  households  by  priests? 
And  I  will  farther  ask,  whether  the  deficient  instruction 
of  the  mass  of  vour  population  does  not  give  to  lawyers 
their  political  ascendency ;  and  whether  the  ignorance  of 
women  be  not  the  cause  that  your  domestic  hearths  are  in- 
vaded by  priests?  Are  not  these  matters  of  popular  interest? 
matters  for  popular  enquiry  ?  We  shall  examine  to-mor- 
row whether  you  have  not  now  in  your  hands  all  the 
means  necessary  for  equahzing  instruction,  not  merely 
among  your  children  but  yourselves ;  so  far,  at  least,  as 
to  place  your  liberties  beyond  risk  of  attainder. 

This  examination  ^vill  involve  all  your  interests,  national 
and  social.  Your  political  institutions  have  taken  equality 
for  their  basis  ;  your  declaration  of  rights,  upon  which  your 
institutions  rest,  sets  forth  this  principle  as  vital  and  invio- 
late.    Equahty  is  the  soul  of  liberty  ;  there  is,  in  fact,  no 


LECT,  II.]  FREE    ENdUIRY.  47 

liberty  without  it — ^none  that  cannot  be  overthrown  by  the 
violence  of  ignorant  anarchy,  or  sapped  by  the  subtilty  of 
professional  craft.  That  this  is  the  case  your  reasons  will 
admit;  that  this  is  the  case  your  feelings  do  admit — even 
those  which  are  the  least  amiable  and  the  least  praise- 
worthy. The  jealousy  betrayed  by  the  uncultivated  against 
those  of  more  polished  address  and  manners,  has  its  source 
in  the  beneficial  principle  to  which  we  advert,  however,  (in 
this,  as  in  many  other  cases,)  misconceived  and  perverted. 
Cultivation  of  mind  will  ever  lighten  the  countenance  and 
polish  the  exterior.  This  external  superiority,  which  is 
but  a  faint  emanation  of  the  superiority  within,  vulgar 
eyes  can  see  and  ignorant  jealousy  will  resent.  This,  in  a 
republic,  leads  to  brutality ;  and,  in  aristocracies,  where 
this  jealously  is  restrained  by  fear,  to  servility.  Here  it 
will  lead  the  wagoner  to  dispute  the  road  with  a  car- 
riage ;  and,  in  Europe,  will  make  the  foot  passenger  doff 
his  hat  to  the  lordly  equipage  which  spatters  him  with 
mud,  while  there  he  mutters  curses  only  in  his  heart.  The 
unreasoning  observer  will  refer  the  conduct  of  the  first  to 
the  republican  institutions — ^the  reflecting  observer,  to 
the  anti-republican  education.  The  instruction  befitting 
free  men  is  that  which  gives  the  sun  of  knowledge  to  shine 
on  all ;  and  which  at  once  secures  the  liberties  of  each  in- 
dividual, and  disposes  each  individual  to  make  a  proper 
use  of  them. 

Equality,  then,  we  have  shown  to  have  its  seat  in  the 
mind.  A  proper  cultivation  of  the  faculties  would  ensure 
a  sufficiency  of  that  equality  for  all  the  ends  of  repubhcan 
government,  and  for  all  the  modes  of  social  enjoyment. 
The  diversity  in  the  natural  powers  of  different  minds,  as 
decided  by  physical  organization,  would  be  then  only  a 
source  of  interest  and  agreeable  variety.    All  would  be 


If 


48  FREE   ENaUIRY.  [lECT.  II. 

capable  of  appreciating  the  peculiar  powers  of  each ;  and 
each  would  perceive  that  his  interests,  well  understood, 
were  in  unison  with  the  interests  of  all.  Let  us  now  exa- 
mine whether  liberty,  properly  interpreted,  does  not  in- 
volve, among  your  unalienable  rights  as  citizens  and 
human  beings,  the  right  of  equal  means  of  instruction. 

Have  ye  given  a  pledge,  sealed  with  the  blood  of  your 
fathers,  for  the  equal  rights  of  all  human  kind  sheltered 
within  your  confines  ?  What  means  the  pledge  ?  or  what 
understand  ye  by  human  rights  ?  But  understand  them  as 
ye  will,  define  them  as  ye  will,  how  are  men  to  be  secured 
in  any  rights  without  instruction  ?  how  to  be  secured  in 
the  equal  exercise  of  those  rights  without  equality  of 
instruction  7  By  instruction  understand  me  to  mean, 
knowledge— jw5^  knowledge  ;  not  talent,  not  genius,  not 
inventive  mental  powers.  These  will  vary  in  every  human 
being ;  but  knowledge  is  the  same  for  every  mind,  and 
every  mind  may  and  ought  to  be  trained  to  receive  it.  If, 
then,  ye  have  pledged,  at  each  anniversary  of  your  political 
independence,  your  lives,  properties,  and  honor,  to  the 
securing  your  common  liberties,  ye  have  pledged  your 
lives,  properties,  and  honor,  to  the  securing  of  your  com- 
mon instruction.  Or  will  you  secure  the  end  without 
securing  the  means?  ye  shall  do  it,  when  ye  reap  the 
harvest  without  planting  the  seed. 

Oh  !  were  the  priaciple  of  human  liberty  understood, 
how  clear  would  be  the  principle  of  human  conduct !  It 
would  light  us  unerringly  to  our  duties  as  citizens.  It 
would  light  us  unerringly  to  our  duties  as  men.  It  would 
lead  us  aright  in  every  action  of  our  lives ;  regulate  justly 
every  feeling  and  affection  of  our  hearts,  and  be  to  us  a 
rule  more  unerring  than  laws,  more  bindiag  than  oaths, 
more  enforcing  than  penalties.    Then  would  passion  yield 


LECT.  II.]  FREE   ENQUIRY.  49 

to  reason,  selfishness  to  justice,  and  the  equal  rights  of 
others  supply  the  sole,  but  the  sure,  immutable  limits  of 
our  own. 

As  we  have  somewhat  swerved  from  our  leading  sub- 
ject to  consider  the  nature  of  equality,  let  us  again  pause 
to  consider  that  of  liberty.  We  have  seen  that  they  are 
twin  sisters ;  and  so  were  they  viewed  by  the  effulgent 
mind  of  Jefferson,  when  from  his  fearless  pen  dropped  the 
golden  words,  "  All  men  are  born  free  and  equal."  Those 
words  his  fellow  citizens  and  descendants  will  have  in- 
terpreted, when  they  shall  have  shed  on  the  minds  of  the 
rising  generation,  and  as  far  as  possible  on  their  own,  the 
equal  effulgence  of  just  knowledge  ;  before  which  every 
error  in  opinion  and  every  vice  in  practice  will  fly  as  the 
noxious  dews  of  night  before  the  sun. 

Let  us,  then,  pause  to  consider  these  immortal  words, 
graven  by  an  immortal  pen  on  the  gates  of  time,  "  All 
men  are  born  free  and  equal." 

All  men  are  born  free  and  equal !  That  is  :  our  moral 
feelings  acknowledge  it  to  he  just  and  proper  ^  that  we 
respect  those  liberties  in  others^  which  we  lay  claim  to 
for  ourselves  ;  and  that  we  permit  the  free  agency  of 
every  individual,  to  any  extent  which  violates  not  the 
free  agency  of  his  fellow  creatures. 

There  is  but  one  honest  hmit  to  the  rights  of  a  sentient 
being;  it  is  where  they  touch  the  rights  of  another  sentient 
being.  Do  we  exert  our  own  liberties  without  injury  to 
others — we  exert  them  justly  ;  do  we  exert  them  at  tho 
expense  of  others — unjustly.  And,  in  thus  doing,  we 
step  from  the  sure  platform  of  liberty  upon  the  uncertain 
threshold  of  tyranny.  Small  is  the  step ;  to  the  unre- 
flecting so  imperceptibly  small,  that  they  take  it  every 
hour  of  their  lives  as  thoughtlessly  as  they  do  it  unfeel^ 
ingly.  Whenever  we  slight,  in  word  or  deed,  the  feelingf 
E  7 


60  FREE   ENQUIRY.  [lECT.  II. 

of  a  fellow  creature ;  whenever,  in  pursuit  of  our  own 
individual  interests,  we  sacrifice  the  interest  of  others ; 
whenever,  through  our  vanity  or  our  selfishness,  we  in- 
terpret our  interests  unfairly,  sink  the  rights  of  others  in 
our  own,  arrogate  authority,  presume  upon  advantages  of 
wealth,  strength,  situation,  talent,  or  instruction ;  whenever 
we  indulge  idle  curiosity  respecting  the  private  affairs, 
opinions,  and  actions  of  our  neighbours ;  whenever,  in 
short,  we  forget  what  in  justice  is  due  to  others,  and, 
equally,  what  in  justice  is  due  to  ourselves,  we  sin  against 
liberty — ^we  pass  from  the  rank  of  freemen  to  that  of 
tyrants  or  slaves.  Easy  it  were  to  enumerate  the  many 
laws  by  which,  as  citizens,  we  violate  our  common  liber- 
ties ;  the  many  regulations,  habits,  practices,  and  opinions, 
by  which,  as  human  beings,  we  violate  the  same.  Easy 
it  were  ?  Alas  !  and  say  I  so  ?  when  to  enumerate  all 
these  our  sins  against  liberty,  would  be  well  nigh  to 
enumerate  all  that  we  do,  and  feel,  and  think,  and  say  ! 
But  let  us  confine  ourselves  within  a  famiUar  though  most 
important  example. 

Who  among  us  but  has  had  occasion  to  remark  the  ill- 
judged,  however  well  intention  ed  government  of  children 
by  their  teachers  ;  and,  yet  more  especially,  by  their 
parents  ?  In  what  does  this  mismanagement  originate  7  In 
a  misconception  of  the  relative  position  of  the  parent  or 
guardian,  and  of  the  child ;  in  a  departure,  by  the  parent, 
from  the  principle  of  hberty,  in  his  assumption  of  rights 
destructive  of  those  of  the  child ;  in  his  exercise  of  autho- 
rity, as  by  right  divine,  over  the  judgment,  actions,  and 
person  of  the  child ;  in  his  forgetfulness  of  the  character 
of  the  child,  as  a  human  being,  born  "free  and  equal" 
among  his  compeers ;  that  is,  having  equal  claims  to  the 
exercise  and  developement  of  all  his  senses,  faculties,  and 
powers,  with  those  who  brought  him  into  existence,  and 


LECT.  II.]  FREE   ENdUIRY.  61 

with  all  sentient  beings  who  tread  the  earth.  Were  a  child 
thus  viewed  by  his  parent,  we  should  not  see  him,  by 
turns,  made  a  plaything  and  a  slave  ;  we  should  not  see 
him  commanded  to  believe,  but  encouraged  to  reason ;  we 
should  not  see  him  trembling  under  the  rod,  nor  shrinking 
from  a  frown,  but  reading  the  wishes  of  others  in  the  eye, 
gathering  knowledge  wherever  he  threw  his  glance,  re- 
joicing in  the  present  hour,  and  treasuring  up  sources  of 
enjoyment  for  future  years.  We  should  not  then  see  the 
youth  launching  into  Hfe  without  compass  or  quadrant. 
We  should  not  see  him  doubting  at  each  emergency  how 
to  act,  shifting  his  course  with  the  shifting  wind,  and,  at 
last,  making  shipwreck  of  mind  and  body  on  the  sunken 
rocks  of  hazard  and  dishonest  speculation,  nor  on  the  foul 
quicksands  of  debasing  licentiousness. 

What,  then,  has  the  parent  to  do,  if  he  would  conscien- 
tiously discharge  that  most  sacred  of  all  duties,  that 
weightiest  of  all  responsibihties,  which  ever  did  or  ever 
Avill  devolve  on  a  human  being  ?  What  is  he  to  do,  who, 
having  brought  a  creature  into  existence,  endowed  with 
varied  faculties,  with  tender  susceptibihties,  capable  of  im- 
told  wretchedness  or  equally  of  unconceived  enjoyment ; 
what  is  he  to  do,  that  he  may  secure  the  happiness  of  that 
creature,  and  make  the  life  he  has  given  blessing  and 
blessed,  instead  of  cursing  and  cursed?  What  is  he  to 
do  ? — ^he  is  to  encourage  in  his  child  a  spirit  of  enquiry, 
and  equally  to  encourage  it  in  himself.  He  is  never  to 
advance  an  opinion  without  showing  the  facts  upon  which 
it  is  grounded ;  he  is  never  to  assert  a  fact,  without  proving 
it  to  be  a  fact.  He  is  not  to  teach  a  code  of  morals,  any 
more  than  a  creed  of  doctrines ;  but  he  is  to  direct  his 
young  charge  to  observe  the  consequences  of  actions  on 
himself  and  on  others  ;  and  to  judge  of  the  propriety  of 
those  actions  by  their  ascertained  consequences.    He  is 


68  FREE   ENaUIRY.  [lECT.  II. 

not  to  command  his  feelings  any  more  than  his  opinions 
or  his  actions ;  but  he  is  to  assist  him  in  the  analysis  of 
his  feehngs,  in  the  examination  of  their  nature,  their 
tendencies,  their  effects.  Let  him  do  this,  and  have  no 
anxiety  for  the  result.  In  the  free  exercise  of  his  senses, 
in  the  fair  developement  of  his  faculties,  in  a  course  of 
simple  and  unrestrained  enquiry,  he  will  discover  truth, 
for  he  will  ascertain  facts ;  he  will  seize  upon  virtue,  for 
he  will  have  distinguished  beneficial  from  injurious  actions ; 
he  will  cultivate  kind,  generous,  just,  and  honourable  feel- 
ings, for  he  will  have  proved  them  to  contribute  to  his 
own  happiness  and  to  shed  happiness  around  him. 

Who,  then,  shall  say,  enquiry  is  good  for  him  and  not 
good  for  his  children  ?  Who  shall  cast  error  from  himself, 
and  allow  it  to  be  grafted  on  the  minds  he  has  called  into 
being  ?  Who  shall  break  the  chains  of  his  own  ignorance, 
and  fix  them,  through  his  descendants,  on  his  race  ?  But, 
there  are  some  who,  as  parents,  make  one  step  in  duty, 
and  halt  at  the  second.  We  see  men  who  will  aid  the  in- 
struction of  their  sons,  and  condemn  only  their  daughters 
to  ignorance.  "  Our  sons,"  they  say,  "  will  have  to  exer- 
cise political  rights,  may  aspire  to  public  offices,  may  fill 
some  learned  profession,  may  struggle  for  wealth  and  ac- 
quire it.  It  is  well  that  we  give  them  a  helping  hand  ; 
that  we  assist  them  to  such  knowledge  as  is  going,  and 
make  them  as  sharp  witted  as  their  neighbors.  But  for 
our  daughters,"  they  say — if  indeed  respecting  them  they 
say  any  thing — "  for  our  daughters,  httle  trouble  or  expense 
is  necessary.  They  can  never  he  any  thing ;  in  fact, 
they  are  nothing.  We  had  best  give  them  up  to  their 
mothers,  who  may  take  them  to  Sunday's  preaching ;  and, 
with  the  aid  of  a  httle  music,  a  little  dancing,  and  a  few 
fine  gowns,  fit  them  out  for  the  market  of  m^arriage." 

Am  I  severe  ?  It  is  not  my  intention.   I  know  that  I  am 


LECT.  II.J  FREE    ENQUIRY.  53 

honest,  and  I  fear  that  I  am  correct.  Should  I  offend, 
however  I  may  regret,  I  shall  not  repent  it ;  satisfied  to 
incur  displeasure,  so  that  I  render  service. 

But  to  such  parents  I  would  observe,  that  with  regard  to 
their  sons,  as  to  their  daughters,  they  are  about  equally 
mistaken.  If  it  be  their  duty,  as  we  have  seen,  to  respect 
in  their  children  the  same  natural  hberties  which  they 
cherish  for  themselves — if  it  be  their  duty  to  aid  as  guides, 
not  to  dictate  as  teachers — ^to  lend  assistance  to  the  reason, 
Tiot  to  command  its  prostration, — then  have  they  nothing 
to  do  with  the  blanks  or  the  prizes  in  store  for  them,  in  the 
wheel  of  worldly  fortune.  Let  possibihties  be  what  they 
may  in  favor  of  their  sons,  they  have  no  calculations  to 
make  on  them.  It  is  not  for  them  to  ordain  their  sons 
magistrates  nor  statesmen ;  nor  yet  even  lawyers,  physi- 
cians, or  merchants.  They  have  only  to  improve  the  one 
character  which  they  receive  at  the  birth.  They  have 
only  to  consider  them  as  human  beings,  and  to  ensure 
them  the  fair  and  thorough  developement  of  all  the  facul- 
ties, physical,  mental,  and  moral,  which  distinguish  their 
nature.  In  like  manner,  as  respects  their  daughters,  they 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  injustice  of  laws,  nor  the 
absurdities  of  society.  Their  duty  is  plain,  evident, 
decided.  In  a  daughter  they  have  in  charge  a  human 
being;  in  a  son,  the  same.  Let  them  train  up  these 
human  bemgSj  under  the  expanded  wings  of  liberty.  Let 
them  seek  for  them  and  with  them  just  knowledge ;  en- 
couraging, from  the  cradle  upwards,  that  useful  curiosity 
which  will  lead  them  unbidden  in  the  paths  of  free 
enquiry ;  and  place  them,  safe  and  superior  to  the  storms 
of  life,  in  the  security  of  well  regulated,  self-possessed 
minds,  well  grounded,  well  reasoned,  conscientious  opi- 
nions, and  self-approved,  consistent  practice. 

I  have  as  yet,  in  this  important  matter,  addressed  my- 
i:2 


64  FUEE   ENQUIRY.  [lKCT.  II. 

self  only  to  the  reason  and  moral  feelings  of  my  audience ; 
I  could  speak  also  to  their  interests.  Easy  were  it  to  show, 
that  in  proportion  as  your  children  are  enlightened,  wiU 
they  prove  blessings  to  society  and  ornaments  to  their  race. 
But  if  this  be  true  of  all,  it  is  more  especially  true  of  the 
now  more  neglected  half  of  the  species.  Were  it  only  in 
our  power  to  enlighten  part  of  the  rising  generation,  and 
should  the  interests  of  the  whole  decide  our  choice  of  the 
portion,  it  were  the  females,  and  not  the  males,  we  should 
select. 

When,  now  a  twelvemonth  since,  the  friends  of  liberty 
and  science  pointed  out  to  me,  in  London,  the  walls  of 
their  rising  university,  I  observed,  with  a  smile,  that  they 
were  begirming  at  the  wrong  end :  "  Raise  such  an  edifice 
for  your  young  women,  and  ye  have  enhghtened  the 
nation."  It  has  already  been  observed,  that  women, 
wherever  placed,  however  high  or  low  in  the  scale  of  cul- 
tivation, hold  the  destinies  of  humankind.  Men  will  ever 
rise  or  fall  to  the  level  of  the  other  sex ;  and  from  some 
causes  in  their  conformation,  we  find  them,  however  armed 
\vith  power  or  enhghtened  with  knowledge,  still  held  in 
leading  strings  even  by  the  least  cultivated  female.  Surely, 
then,  if  they  knew  their  interests,  they  would  desire  the 
improvement  of  those  who,  if  they  do  not  advantage,  will 
injure  them;  who,  if  they  elevate  not  their  minds  and 
mehorate  not  their  hearts,  will  debase  the  one  and  harden 
the  other ;  and  who,  if  they  endear  not  existence,  most 
assuredly  will  dash  it  with  poison.  How  many,  how  om- 
nipotent are  the  interests  which  engage  men  to  break  the 
mental  chains  of  women  !  How  many,  how  dear  are  the 
interests  which  engage  them  to  exalt  rather  than  lower 
their  condition,  to  multiply  their  solid  acquirements,  to 
respect  their  liberties,  to  make  them  their  equals,  to  wish 
them  even  their  superiors  I  Let  them  enquire  into  these 


LECT.  II.]  FREE    ENCIUIRY.  68 

things.  Let  them  examine  the  relation  in  which  the  two 
sexes  stand,  and  ever  must  stand,  to  each  other.  Let  them 
perceive,  that,  mutually  dependent,  they  must  ever  be 
giving  and  receiving,  or  they  must  be  losing  ; — receiving 
or  losing  in  knowledge,  in  virtue,  in  enjoyment.  Let  them 
perceive  how  immense  the  loss,  or  how  immense  the 
gain.  Let  them  not  imagine  that  they  know  aught  of 
the  deUghts  which  intercourse  with  the  other  sex  can 
give,  until  they  have  felt  the  s)n:npathy  of  mind  with 
mind,  and  heart  with  heart ;  until  they  bring  into  that 
intercourse  every  affection,  every  talent,  every  confidence, 
every  refinement,  every  respect.  Until  power  is  annihi- 
lated on  one  side,  fear  and  obedience  on  the  other,  and 
both  restored  to  their  birthright — equality.  Let  none 
think  that  affection  can  reign  without  it ;  or  friendship,  or 
esteem.  Jealousies,  envyings,  suspicions,  reserves,  decep- 
tions— ^these  are  the  fruits  of  inequality.  Go,  then  !  and 
remove  the  evil  first  from  the  minds  of  women,  then  from 
their  condition,  and  then  from  your  laws.  Think  it  no 
longer  indifferent  whether  the  mothers  of  the  rising  gene- 
ration are  wise  or  foolish.  Think  it  not  indifferent  whe- 
ther your  own  companions  are  ignorant  or  enUghtened. 
Think  it  not  indifferent  whether  those  who  are  to  form  the 
opinions,  sway  the  habits,  decide  the  destinies,  of  the  spe- 
cies— and  that  not  through  thek  children  only,  but  through 
their  lovers  and  husbands — are  enlightened  friends  or  ca- 
pricious mistresses,  efficient  coadjutors  or  careless  servants, 
reasoning  beings  or  blind  followers  of  superstition. 

There  is  a  vulgar  persuasion,  that  the  ignorance  of 
women,  by.  favoring  their  subordination,  ensures  their 
utility.  'Tis  the  same  argument  employed  by  the  ruling 
few  against  the  subject  many  in  aristocracies ;  by  the  rich 
against  the  poor  in  democracies ;  by  the  learned  professions 
-against  the  people  in  all  countries.     And  let  us  observe, 


M  FREE    ENQUIRY.  [lECT.  II. 

that  if  good  in  one  case,  it  should  be  good  in  all ;  and  that, 
unless  you  are  prepared  to  admit  that  you  are  yourselves 
less  industrious  in  proportion  to  your  intelligence,  you  must 
abandon  the  position  with  respect  to  others.  But,  in  fact, 
who  is  it  among  men  that  best  struggle  with  difficulties  ? 
— ^the  strong  minded  or  the  weak  ?  Who  meet  with  se- 
renity adverse  fortune  ? — the  wise  or  the  foohsh  ?  Who 
accommodate  themselves  to  irremediable  circumstances?  or, 
when  remediable,  who  control  and  mould  them  at  wiU  ? — 
the  intelligent  or  the  ignorant  ?  Let  your  answer  in  your 
own  case,  be  your  answer  in  that  of  women. 

If  the  important  enquiry  which  engaged  our  attention 
last  evening  was  satisfactorily  answered,  is  there  one  who 
can  doubt  the  beneficial  effects  of  knowledge  upon  every 
mind,  upon  every  heart  ?  Surely  it  must  have  been  a  mis- 
conception of  the  nature  of  knowledge  which  could  alone 
bring  it  into  suspicion.  What  is  the  danger  of  truth? 
Where  is  the  danger  of  fact?  Error  and  ignorance,  in- 
deed, are  full  of  danger.  They  fill  our  imagination  with 
terrors.  They  place  us  at  the  mercy  of  every  external  cir- 
cumstance. They  incapacitate  us  for  our  duties  as  mem- 
bers of  the  human  family,  for  happiness  as  sentient  beings, 
for  improvement  as  reasoning  beings.  Let  us  awake  from 
this  illusion.  ,  Let  us  understand  what  knowledge  is.  Let 
us  clearly  perceive  that  accurate  knowledge  regards  all 
equally;  that  truth,  or  fact,  is  the  same  thing  for  all 
human-kind ;  that  there  are  not  truths  for  the  rich  and 
truths  for  the  poor,  truths  for  men  and  truths  for  women ; 
there  are  simply  truths ,  that  is,  facts,  which  all  who 
open  their  eyes  and  their  ears  and  their  understandings 
can  perceive.  There  is  no  mystery  in  these  facts. 
There  is  no  witchcraft  in  knowledge.  Science  is  not  a 
trick;  not  a  puzzle.  The  philosopher  is  not  a  conju- 
ror. The  observer  of  nature  who  envelopes  his  discoveries 


r 


LECT.  II.]  FREE   ENQUIRY.  57 

in  mystery,  either  knows  less  than  he  pretends,  or  feels 
interested  in  withholding  his  knowledge.  The  teacher 
whose  lessons  are  difficult  of  comprehension,  is  either 
clumsy  or  he  is  dishonest. 

We  observed,  at  our  last  meeting,  that  it  was  the  evident 
interest  of  our  appointed  teachers  to  disguise  the  truth. 
We  discovered  this  to  be  a  matter  of  necessity,  arising  out 
of  their  dependence  upon  the  public  favor.  We  may  ob- 
serve yet  another  cause,  now  operating  far  and  wide — 
universally,  oronipotently — a  cause  pervading  the  whole 
mass  of  society,  and  springing  out  of  the  existing  motive 
principle  of  human  action — competition.  Let  us  exa- 
mine, and  we  shall  discover  it  to  be  the  object  of  each  in- 
dividual to  obscure  the  first  elements  of  the  knowledge  he 
professes — ^be  that  knowledge  mechanical  and  operative,  or 
intellectual  and  passive.  It  is  thus  that  we  see  the  simple 
manufacture  of  a  pair  of  shoes  magnified  into  an  art,  de- 
manding a  seven  years  apprenticeship,  when  all  its  intri- 
cacies might  be  mastered  in  as  many  months.  It  is  thus 
that  cutting  out  a  coat  after  just  proportions  is  made  to  in- 
volve more  science,  and  to  demand  more  study,  than  the 
anatomy  of  the  body  it  is  to  cover.  And  it  is  thus,  in  like 
manner,  that  all  the  branches  of  knowledge,  involved  in 
what  is  called  scholastic  learning,  are  wrapped  in  the  fogs 
of  pompous  pedantry ;  and  that  every  truth,  instead  of  be- 
ing presented  in  naked  innocence,  is  obscured  imder  a 
weight  of  elaborate  words,  and  lost  and  buried  in  a  medley 
of  iiielevant  ideas,  useless  amplifications,  and  erroneous  ar- 
guments. Would  we  unravel  this  confusion — would  wo, 
distinguish  the  true  from  the  false,  the  real  from  the  un- 
real, the  useful  from  the  useless — would  we  break  our  men- 
tal leading  strings — would  we  know  the  uses  of  all  our  fa-^ 
cutties — ^would  we  be  virtuous,  happy,  and  inteUigent  be- 
ings— ^would  we  be  useful  in  our  generation — ^would  we 

8 


68  FREE    ENaUIRY.  [lECT.  H. 

possess  our  own  minds  in  peace,  be  secure  in  our  opinions, 
be  just  in  our  feelings,  be  consistent  in  our  practice — ^would 
we  command  the  respect  of  others,  and — ^far  better — would 
we  secure  our  own — ^let  us  enquire. 

Let  us  enquire !  What  mighty  consequences,  are  in- 
■  volved  in  these  little  words  !  Whither  have  they  not  led  ? 
To  what  are  they  not  yet  destined  to  lead  ?  Before  them 
thrones  have  given  way.  Hierarchies  have  fallen,  dun- 
geons have  disclosed  their  secrets.  Iron  bars,  and  iron 
laws,  and  more  iron  prejudices,  have  givea  way ;  the  pri- 
son house  of  the  mind  hath  burst  its  fetters  ;  science  dis- 
closed her  treasures ;  truth  her  moral  beauties  ;  and  civil 
liberty,  sheathing  her  conquering  sword^  hath  prepared  her 
to  sit  down  in  peax:e  at  the  feet  of  knowledge. 

Let  us  enquire  !  Oh,  words  fraught  with  good  to  man 
and  terror  to  his  oppressors  !  Oh  words  bearing  glad  ti- 
dings to  the  many  and  alarm  only  to  the  few  1  The  mo- 
narch hears  them  and  trembles  on  his  throne  !  The  priest 
hears  them,  and  trembles  in  the  sanctuary ;  the  unjust 
judge — and  trembles  on  the  judgment  seat.  The  nations 
pronounce  them  and  arise  in  their  strength.  Let  us  enquire ; 
and  behold,  ignorance  becomes  wise,  vice  forsakes  its  er- 
rors, wretchedness  conceives  of  comfort,  and  despair  is  vi- 
sited by  hope.  Let  us  enquire  ! — when  all  shall  whisper 
these  little  words,  and  echo  them  in  their  hearts,  truly  the 
rough  places  shall  be  made  smooth,  and  the  crooked  paths 
straight.  Let  us  enquire ;  and  behold,  no  evil  but  shall  find 
its  remedy,  no  error  but  shall  be  detected,  and  no  truth  but 
shall  stand  revealed !  Let  us  enquire  !  These  little  words, 
which  presume  in  nothing,  but  which  promise  all  things, 
what  ear  shall  they  offend  ?  what  imagination  shall  they 
affright  ?  Not  yours,  sons  of  America  !  Not  yours.  What 
hold  ye  of  good  or  great  ?  what  boast  ye  of  rights,  of  pri- 
vileges, of  hberty,  beyond  the  rest  of  the  nations,  that  by 


LECT.  II.]  FREE    ENQUIRY.  69 

enquiry  hath  not  been  won,  by  enquiry  improved  and  pro- 
tected ?  Let  us  enquire,  said  your  ancestors,  when  kingly 
and  priestly  tyranny  smote  them  on  the  banks  of  the 
Thames  or  the  Seine.  Let  us  enquire,  said  your  fathers, 
when  imperious  princes  and  arrogant  parUaments  ques- 
tioned their  charters  and  trampled  on  their  rights.  Let  us 
enquire,  said  Henry,  said  Jefferson,  said  Franklin,  said  the 
people  and  congress  of  '76.  Let  us  enquire  ;  and  behold, 
the  enquiry  gained  to  them  and  their  descendants  a  coun- 
try— ^lost  to  kings  and  their  empires  a  world  ! 

And  shall  the  sons  fear  to  pronounce,  in  peace,  under 
the  shadow  of  the  olive  and  the  laurel  planted  by  their  fa- 
thers— shall  they,  I  say,  fear  to  pronounce  those  httle  words 
which,  by  their  ancestors,  were  uttered  under  ban  and  for- 
feiture, outlawry  and  excommunication,  in  prison  and 
under  scaffolds,  before  the  bayonets  of  tyranny  and  the 
threatening  thunders  of  leagued  armies  ? 

Or,  is  the  race  of  human  improvement  ended,  and  the 
work  of  reform  completed  7  Have  we  attained  all  truth, 
rectified  all  error,  so  that,  sitting  down  in  wisdom  and  per- 
fection, we  may  say,  "  our  duty  is  achieved,  our  destiny 
fulfilled  ?"  Alas  for  our  nature,  alas  for  our  condition,  alas 
for  reason  and  common  sense,  if  such  should  be  the  an- 
swer of  our  presumption,  such  the  decision  of  our  igno- 
rance !  Where  is  the  mind  so  vast,  the  imagination  so 
sublime,  that  hath  conceived  the  farthest  limits  of  human 
improvement,  or  the  utmost  height  to  which  human  virtue 
may  attain  ?  Or,  say !  where  is  the  heart  so  insensible, 
the  mind  so  debased,  that,  looking  abroad  on  the  face  of 
society,  as  now  disfigured  with  vice,  rapine,  and  wretched- 
ness, can  seriously  think  and  feel  farther  enquiry  superflu- 
ous, farther  reformation  impossible  ? 

Did  the  knowledge  of  each  individual  embrace  all  the 
discoveries  made  by  science,  all  the  truths  extracted  by 


60  FREE    ENaUIRY.  fl.ECT.  II. 

philosophy  from  the  combined  experience  of  ages,  still 
would  enquiry  be  in  its  infancy,  improvement  in  its  dawn. 
Perfection  for  man  is  in  no  time,  in  no  place.  The  law  of 
his  being,  like  that  of  the  earth  he  inhabits,  is  to  move  al- 
ways^ to  stop  never.  From  the  earliest  amials  of  tradi- 
tion, his  movement  has  been  in  advance.  The  tide  of  his 
progress  hath  had  ebbs  and  flows,  but  hath  left  a  thousand 
marks  by  wliich  to  note  its  silent  but  tremendous  influx. 

The  first  observations  of  Indian  and  Egyptian  astrono^ 
mers  ;  the  first  application  of  man  to  civil  industry  ;  the 
first  associations  of  tribes  and  nations,  for  the  purpose  of 
mutual  protection  ;  the  invention  of  an  alphabet,  the  use 
of  each  ornamental,  and,  far  better,  of  each  useful  art,-— 
stand  as  so  many  tide  marks  in  the  flood  of  recorded  time, 
until,  applying  a  lever  to  his  own  genius,  man  invented 
the  printing  press,  and  opened  a  first  highway  to  enquiry. 
From  that  hour,  his  progress  has  been  accelerating  and  ac- 
celerated. His  strides  have  been  those  of  a  giant,  and  are 
those  of  a  giant  growing  in  his  strength.  Mighty  was  the 
step  he  made,  when,  in  Germany,  he  impeached  the  infal- 
libility of  Rome ;  mightier  yet  when,  in  England,  he  at- 
tacked the  supremacy  of  kings  ;  mightier  by  far,  when, 
appealing  to  his  own  natural  rights,  he  planted  in  this  new 
world  the  more  new  standard  of  equal  Hberty  ;  and  migh- 
tier still  shall  be  his  impulse  in  the  onward  career  of  end- 
less improvement,  when,  rightly  reading  and  justly  execu- 
ting his  own  decree,  he  shall  extend  lo  every  son  and 
daughter  within  the  confines  of  these  free  states,  liberty's 
first  and  only  security — virtue's  surest  and  only  guide — 
national,  rational,  and  equal  education. 

Something  towards  this  has  been  done,  and  in  no  divi- 
sion of  this  promising  repubhc  more  than  in  New-England 
and  the  commonwealth  of  New- York.  But,  as  it  may 
hereafter  be  my  attempt  to  show,  in  the  efibrts  yet  made 


LECT.  U.5  FREE    ENQUIRY.  61 

and  making,  the  master  spring  hath  not  been  touched,  the 
republican  principle  hath  not  been  hit,  and,  therefore,  is  the 
reform  imperfect. 

If  this  be  so — and  who  that  looks  abroad  shall  gainsay 
the  assertion  ? — if  this  be  so — and  who  that  looks  to  your 
jails,  to  your  penitentiaries,  to  your  houses  of  refuge,  to 
your  hospitals,  to  your  asylums,  to  your  hovels  of  wretch- 
edness, to  your  haunts  of  intemperance,  to  your  victims 
lost  in  vice  and  hardened  in  profligacy,  to  childhood  with- 
out protection,  to  youth  without  guidance,  to  the  widow 
<vithout  sustenance,  to  the  female  destitute  and  female  out- 
;ast,  sentenced  to  shame  and  sold  to  degradation—r-who 
,hat  looks  to  these  shall  say,  that  enquiry  hath  not  a 
world  to  explore,  and  improvement  yet  a  world  to  reform  ! 

Let  us  enquire.  Who,  then,  shall  challenge  the  words? 
They  are  challenged.  And  by  whom  ?  By  those  who  call 
themselves  the  guardians  of  morality,  and  who  are  the  con- 
stituted guardians  of  religion.  Enquiry,  it  seems,  suits  not 
them.  They  have  drawn  the  Une,  beyond  which  human 
reason  shall  not  pass — above  which  human  virtue  shall  not 
aspire  !  All  that  is  without  their  faith  or  above  their  rule, 
is  immorality,  is  atheism,  is — ^I  know  not  what. 

My  friends,  I  will  ask  you,  as  I  would  ask  them  would 
they  meet  the  question,  what  means  we  possess  for  settling 
the  point  now  at  issue  between  the  servants  of  faith  and  the 
advocates  of  knowledge,  but  what  are  supphed  by  enquiry? 

Are  we  miserable  creatures,  innately  and  of  necessity ; 
placed  on  this  earth  by  a  being  who  should  have  made 
us  for  misery  here  and  damnation  hereafter ;  or  are  we  bom 
ductile  as  the  gold  and  speckless  as  the  mirror,  capable  of 
all  inflection  and  impression  which  wise  or  unwise  instruc- 
tion may  impart,  or  to  which  good  or  evil  circumstance 
may  incline  ?  Are  we  helpless  sinners,  with  nought  but 
the  anchor  of  faith  to  lean  upon  ?  Or  are  we  creatures  of 
p 


62  FREE   ENCIUIRY.  [lECT.  II. 

noblest  energies  and  sublimest  capabilities,  fitted  for  every 
deed  of  excellence,  feeling  of  charity,  and  mode  of  enjoy- 
ment ?  How  may  we  settle  this  problem  but  by  enquiry  ? 
How  shall  we  know  who  hath  the  right  and  who  hath  the 
wrong  but  by  enquiry  ?  Surely  the  matter  is  not  small, 
nor  the  stake  at  issue  trifling.  Every  interest  dearest  to  the 
heart,  every  prospect  most  exhilirating  to  the  mind,  is  invol- 
ved in  the  question  and  trembles  on  the  decision. 

Oh  !  then,  let  us  gird  up  our  minds  in  courage,  and  com- 
pose them  in  peace.  Let  us  cast  aside  fear  and  suspicion, 
suspend  our  jealousies  and  disputes,  acknowledge  the 
rights  of  others  and  assert  our  own.  And  oh  !  let  us  un- 
derstand that  the  first  and  noblest  of  these  rights  is,  the 
cultivation  of  our  reason.  We  have  seen  what  just  knowledge 
is ;  we  have  ascertained  its  importance  to  our  worldly  pros- 
perity, to  our  happiness,  to  our  dignity.  We  have  seen,  that 
it  regards  us,  not  only  individually,  but  relatively  and  col- 
lectively. We  have  seen  that  to  obtain  it,  we  have  but  to 
seek  it,  patiently  and  fearlessly,  in  the  road  of  enquiry ; 
and  that  to  tread  that  road  pleasantly,  securely,  profitably, 
we  must  throw  it  open  to  both  sexes — to  all  ages — to  the 
whole  family  of  humankind. . 

It  now  remains  for  us  to  distinguish  what  are  the  most 
important  subjects  of  human  enquiry.  The  field  of  know- 
ledge is  wide  and  the  term  of  our  existence  short.  With 
many  of  us  Hfe  is  considerably  spent  and  much  charged 
with  worldly  and  domestic  occupation.  Still  have  we  lei- 
sure sufficient,  if  we  be  willing  to  employ  it,  for  the  acqui- 
sition of  such  truths  as  are  .most  immediately  associated 
with  our  interests  and  influential  over  our  happiness. 

At  our  next  meeting  we  shall  enquire  what  these  truths 
of  primary  importance  are,  together  with  the  means  now 
in  your  hands  for  their  general  distribution  and  popular  ac- 
quisition. 


L.ECTURE  in. 


OP  THE  MORE  IMPORTANT  DIVISIONS  AND  ESSENTIAL 
PARTS  OF  KNOWLEDGE. 

In  our  preceding  discourses  we  have  investigated,  first, 
the  nature  and  object  of  just  knowledge ;  secondly,  the 
means  for  attaining  that  knowledge.  It  remains  for  us  to 
distinguish  those  parts  or  divisions  of  knowledge,  with 
which  it  most  concerns  us  to  be  famihar. 

We  ascertained  at  our  first  meeting  just  knowledge  to 
consist  in,  first,  acquaintance  with  ourselves ;  and  secondly, 
with  all  things  to  which  we  stand  in  relation. 

Now  we  stand  in  relation,  more  near  or  more  remote,  to 
all  substances  and  all  existences  within  the  range  of  our 
observation  ;  that  is,  to  the  whole  of  matter,  of  which 
whole  we  ourselves  form  a  part. 

We  shall  understand  this  relation  more  accurately  if  we 
bear  in  mind,  that  the  simple  elements  of  all  things  are 
eternal  in  duration  and  ever  changing  in  position.  We 
may  analyze  or  decompose  all  substances,  from  the  rocks 
of  the  mountain  to  the  flesh  of  our  own  bodies  ;  we  may 
destroy  sentient  existences — the  ox  in  the  market,  or  the 
insect  beneath  our  foot ;  we  may  watch  the  progress  of 
rapid  or  more  gradual  decomposition  by  age  or  disease  in 
our  own  bodies ;  but  let  us  not  imagine  that  here  is  de- 
struction, here  is  only  change.  We  may  evaporate  water 
into  steam,  or  convert  it  into  air  ;  we  may  transform  the 
blazing  diamond  into  the  elements  of  dull  carbon ;  we  may 


64  DIVISIONS    OF   KNOWLEDGE.        [lECT.  III. 

(i  stop  the  current  juices  in  the  plant  or  the  tree,  and  leave  it 

fading  and  withering  until  we  find  only  an  earthy  heap  on 
the  soil ;  we  may  arrest  the  action  of  organic  life,  and 
stretch  the  warm  and  sentient  being  a  cold,  dull  clod  of 
corruption  at  our  feet — yet  have  we  neither  taken  from, 
nor  added  to,  the  elements  before  us.  We  have  changed 
one  substance  into  other  substances,  ended  one  existence 
to  start  others  into  being.  The  same  matter  is  there ;  its 
appearance  only  is  changed,  and  its  qualities  diversified. 
These  facts  being  so,  as  observation  and  experience  attest, 
it  follows,  not  merely  that  we  form  at  this  moment  a  part 
of  one  great  whole,  but  that  we  ever  have  and  ever  shall 
form  a  part  of  the  same.  Under  various  forms,  with 
varying  qualities,  the  elements  which  now  compose  our 
bodies  have  ever  held,  and  will  ever  hold,  a  place  in  the 
vast  infinity  of  matter  ;  and,  consequently,  ever  mingling 
and  mingled  with  the  elements  of  all  things,  we  stand,  in 
*  our  very  nature,  allied  and  associated  with  the  air  we 

breathe,  the  dust,  the  stone,  the  flower  we  tread  ;  the  worm 
that  crawls,  the  insect  that  hums  around  us  its  tiny  song, 
the  bird  that  wheels  its  flight  through  the  blue  ether,  and 
all  the  varied  multitude  of  animal  existences,  from  the 
playful  squirrel  to  the  lordly  elephant. 

Thus  related,  as  we  are,  to  all  things,  and  all  things  to 
us,  how  interesting  a  theatre  that  in  which  we  stand ! 
How  calculated  to  awaken  our  intellectual  faculties,  and 
excite  our  moral  feeUngs !  Our  sympathy  is  attracted  to 
every  creature,  our  attention  to  every  thing.  We  see  our- 
selves in  the  midst  of  a  family  endlessly  diversified  in 
powers,  in  faculties,  in  wants,  in  desires  ;  in  the  midst  of 
a  world  whose  existence  is  one  with  our  own,  and  in 
whose  history  each  mode  of  being  is  an  episode. 

Were  this  simple  view  of  things  opened  to  us  with  our 
opening  reason,  royal  indeed  were  our  road  in  improve- 


LECT.  III.]        DIVISIONS    OF   KNOWLEDGE.  65 

ment.  Easily,  as  pleasantly,  should  we  tread  all  the  paths 
of  knowledge ;  and  advancing,  without  check  or  back- 
sliding, become  familiar  with  every  object  within  the  circle 
of  each  opening  horizon,  until  the  whole  map  of  material 
existence,  with  all  its  occurrences  and  changes,  lay  reveal- 
ed to  our  sight  and  apprehension.  Then  would  our  edu- 
cation be  simply  a  voyage  of  discovery.  We  should  have 
only  to  look  within  us  and  to  look  without  us,  to  store  up 
facts  and  to  register  them  for  future  generations.  Far 
other  is  our  occupation  now.  Instead  of  estabhshing  facts, 
we  have  to  overthrow  errors ;  instead  of  ascertaining  what 
is,  we  have  to  chase  from  our  imaginations  what  is  7iot. 
Before  we  can  open  our  eyes,  we  have  to  ask  leave  of  our 
superstitions ;  before  we  can  exercise  our  faculties,  we  have 
to  ask  leave  of  each  other.  When  I  think  how  easy  and 
delightful  the  task  would  be  to  present  you  with  a  simple 
table  of  just  knowledge — ^to  arrange  under  the  single  head 
of  MATTER  AND  ITS  PHENOMENA,  all  the  reaZ  objects  of 
human  investigation  and  real  subjects  of  human  enquiry ; 
and  when  I  picture  to  myself  all  the  imaginary  objects 
which  now  engage  your  attention,  and  all  the  fanciful  sub- 
jects on  which  your  imaginations  run  riot — I  know  not 
where  to  begin,  and  am  fain  to  ask  pardon  of  you  and 
pardon  of  myself  for  the  unmeaning  words  I  must  em- 
ploy, the  unreal  subjects  we  must  consider.  But,  waving 
these  for  a  moment,  let  us  enquire  what,  under  these  two 
divisions  of  knowledge — acquaintance  with  ourselves  and 
acquaintance  with  the  world  Avithout  us — are  the  subjects 
of  primary  interest ;  and  in  what  degree  we  are  at  present 
engaged  in  their  consideration. 

First,   acquaintance  with  ourselves.     We  must  allow 

this  to  be  important.     If  any  thing  concerns  us,  it  should 

be  our  own  bodies  and  minds.     What  do  we  understand 

of  their  structure  ?  what  of  their  faculties  and  pwers  1 

f2  9 


6d  DIVISIONS   OP   KNOWLEDGE.       [lECT.  III. 

If  we  understand  not  these,  how  may  we  preserve  the 
health  of  either?  How  may  we  avoid  injurious  habits,  un- 
derstand our  sensations,  profit  by  experience,  and  estabhsh 
ourselves  in  bodily  temperance  and  mental  sobriety  ? 
^  Without  pausing  to  develope  all  the  importance  of  these 
studies,  we  will  take  its  admission  for  granted ;  and  place, 
therefore,  at  the  head  of  our  list,  anatomy,  physiology,  and 
the  natural  history  of  man. 

In  passing  to  the  world  without  us,  we  come  to  a  sub- 
ject of  equal  importance ;  one,  indeed,  which,  accurately 
considered,  comprises  the  knowledge  of  ourselves  in  com- 
mon with  that  of  all  existences — ^physics,  or  a  knowledge 
of  the  material  world. 

Under  this  head  we  may  remark  many  distinct  subjects 
of  enquiry.  The  motion  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  that 
of  our  earth  considered  as  one  of  them.  The  form  and 
structure  of  the  earth,  with  all  the  appearances  and  sub- 
stances it  exhibits ;  the  physiology  of  animals,  their 
habits,  instincts,  and  moral  character  ;  with  those  of  all  the 
swarms  of  existences  which  diversify  matter  with  endless 
variety.  But,  leaving  these  with  other  subdivisions,  we 
may  confine  ourselves  to  the  remark,  that  without  some 
general  acquaintance  with  the  three  great  branches  of 
physics,  commonly  called  chemistry,  natural  philosophy, 
and  natural  history,  more  especially  that  of  man,  we  can 
know  nothing ;  nothing  of  ourselves,  nothing  of  the  world 
about  us,  nothing  of  the  relation  we  bear  to  things,  nor  of 
their's  to  us,  nor  of  their's  to  each  other.  The  best  road  to 
correct  reasoning  is  by  physical  science  j  the  way  to  trace 
effects  to  causes  is  through  physical  science ;  the  only  cor- 
rective, therefore,  of  superstition  is  physical  science. 

Nor  let  us  imagine  this  difficult  of  attainment.  Of  all 
human  accomphshments,  it  is  the  easiest.  For  why  ?  it 
consists  exclusively  of  facts.     It  is  not  that  even  here 


LECT.  III.]        DIVISIONS   OP   KNOWLEDGE.  67 

human  ingenuity  has  never  devised  confusion.  But, 
thanks  to  the  persevering  labors  of  some  enlightened  indi- 
viduals, many  of  them  persecuted  in  their  generation,  and 
not  a  few  persecuted  in  our  own,  we  now  understand  that 
if  we  would  investigate  nature,  in  whole  or  in  part,  we 
must  use  our  eyes,  ears,  and  understandings,  simply 
treasure  up  facts,  judge  from  facts,  and  reason  from  the 
premises  of  facts. 

Admitting,  as  we  must,  the  importance  of  this  mode  of 
judging  and  reasoning,  we  shall  perceive  the  peculiar  ad- 
vantage and  necessity  of  commencing  our  researches  in 
the  world  of  fact  and  science  of  things. 

Before  we  can  proceed  to  examine  our  opinions,  we 
must  ascertain  facts  drawn  from  the  attentive  observation 
of  matter.  We  must  know  the  anatomy  of  the  matter 
composing  our  own  bodies,  and  that  of  the  matter  com- 
posing all  other  bodies.  We  must  familiarize  our  senses 
and  our  understandings  with  the  multiform  and  yet  un- 
varying phenomena  of  nature.  We  must  know  what 
does  happen  and  what  does  not  happen.  We  must  trace 
in  the  physical  world,  cause  to  cause  ;  or,  more  properly, 
occurrence  to  occurrence ;  and  whenever  we  do  not  per- 
ceive the  clenching  link  between  two  occurrences,  we 
must  not  imagine  it ;  we  must  say  we  do  not  know  it, 
and  we  must  go,  with  our  five  senses  open,  in  search  of  it. 
Had  human  beings,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  done  this, 
where  should  we  not  now  be  in  just  knowledge  ?  It  is  time 
that  we  seek  out  the  right  road.  We  have  groped  long 
enough  in  error  ;  lived  long  enough  in  fairy  land ;  dream- 
ed more  than  enough  of  things  unseen  and  causes  un- 
known. We  have,  indeed,  dreamed  so  much  and  ob- 
served so  little,  that  our  imaginations  have  grown  larger 
than  the  world  we  live  in,  and  our  judgments  have  dwindled 
down  to  a  point. 


66  DIVISIONS    OF    KNOWLEDGE.        [lECT.  III. 

Having  obtained  a  general  view  of  the  philosophy  of 
matter,  we  may  then  carry  our  investigations  into  the 
Other  branches  of  knowledge,  according  to  our  leisure, 
taste,  and  opportunity.  We  may  apply  ourselves  to  the 
past  history  of  man,  as  handed  down  to  us  by  tradition, 
oral  or  in  writing ;  and  comparing  these  traditions  with 
what  we  know  of  the  nature  of  man  and  the  nature  of 
things,  of  matter  and  its  phenomena,  we  may  judge  of 
their  credibihty.  If  we  are  not  prepared  thus  to  judge  by 
accurate  analogy,  we  may  receive  every  fable  for  matter  of 
fact,  swallow  every  fairy  tale  for  true  history,  suppose 
every  mythology  sound  philosophy,  and  mistake  equally 
the  tricks  of  conjurors  and  the  phenomena  of  nature  for 
miracles. 

We  may  then  peruse  with  equal  interest  and  advantage 
the  narratives  of  travellers,  and  engage  in  general  reading 
with  httle  risk  of  taking  facts  for  granted  without  evidence, 
or  receiving  the  visions  of  weak  understandings  for  the 
lessons  of  wisdom.  We  may  then,  too,  examine  our 
opinions  with  some  hope  of  discriminating  between  the  er- 
roneous and  the  correct ;  we  may  then  change  or  form  our 
opinions  with  good  security  for  basing  them  on  a  soUd 
foundation;  we  may  then  exercise  our  reason,  for  we 
shall  have  facts  to  exercise  it  upon ;  we  may  then  com- 
pare popular  creeds,  and  investigate  unpopular  doubts;  we. 
may  then  weigh  all  things  in  the  balance  of  reason,  seat 
our  judgment  on  her  tlirone,  and  listen  to  her  decisions. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  how  are  the  generality  of  men, 
and,  more  especially,  of  women,  to  find  time  and  opportu- 
nity for  such  preparatory  investigations  as  we  acknowledge 
to  be  absolutely  indispensable  ?  Should  we  discover  that 
they  now  spend  more  time  and  more  opportunity  in  use- 
less investigations,  than  they  need  devote  to  the  most  use- 
ful; that  they  now  waste  more  anxious  thought,  more 


LECT.  III.]        DIVISIONS    OP   KNOWLEDGE.  69 

precious  time,  and  more  hard  earned  money  in  fruitless 
enquiry — enquiry  which  never  can  be  answered,  and 
whose  answer,  if  possible,  could  profit  them  nothing — 
than  would  suffice  to  gratify  every  laudable  curiosity,  and 
store  their  minds  ^vith  knowledge,  whose  utility  should  be 
felt  at  every  moment  of  their  lives — should  we  discover 
this,  would  there  be  no  effort  made  to  turn  time  and  op- 
portimity  to  better  accomit,  and  to  divert  thought  and 
money  into  the  more  useful  channel  ? 

We  spake  of  enquiry.  Behold !  my  friends,  a  subject  for 
it !  Ask  yourselves  how  ye  employ  your  leisure  hours — 
how  ye  employ  your  leisure  day^  the  first  of  the  week ! 
Ask,  for  what  have  ye  raised  spacious  buildings  through 
your  cities  and  villages,  and  for  what  ye  pay  a  host  of 
teachers,  interested,  as  we  have  seen — as  we  have  jorovec? — 
in  deceiving  you ! 

I  must  pause  a  moment  to  conciliate  the  feelings  of  my 
audience:  I  know  the  influence  exercised  by  religious 
teachers,  and  I  know  the  sway  yielded  to  them  ;  I  know 
the  hostihty  I  must  excite  by  exposing  the  circumstances 
which  render  worse  than  nugatory  the  lessons  of  the  pul- 
pit, and  which  interest  the  press  in  confirming  the  errors 
which  the  pulpit  promulgates.  I  understand  aU  that  I 
must  provoke ;  but  equally  do  I  understand  the  urgency 
of  the  duty  which  hsis  already  led  me  to  expose  the  fact, 
that  the  teachers  of  the  public  mind  are,  by  the  very 
circumstances  of  their  situation,  constrained  to  conciliate 
every  prejudice,  and  gainsay  every  truth. 

Nor  rests  the  fatal  necessity  to  which  I  called  your  at- 
tention, in  my  opening  discourse,  only  with  our  public 
teachers.  Each  member  of  the  public  feels  something 
of  the  same.  Trained  as  we  all  are,  more  or  less,  in  the 
ways  of  hypocrisy — constrained  by  fear  or  by  policy,  to 
assume  the  semblance  of  such  opinions,  whether  we  hold 


70  DIVISIONS  OP   KNOWLEDGE.        [lECT.  III. 

them  secretly  or  not,  as  rule  the  ascendant  because  they 
command  the  wealth  of  the  country  ;  or,  should  we  for- 
bear from  expressing  what  is  false,  obliged,  at  the  least, 
to  withhold  what  is  true  ;^-constrained,  I  say,  in  very 
self-defence,  to  keep  silence,  lest  the  bread  be  taken  from 
our  mouths,  or  peace  from  our  firesides  ;  the  inutiUty,  or, 
worse,  the  mischief  of  our  ordinary  public  instruction,  is 
apparent,  both  in  its  effects  and  in  its  cause. 

Far  be  it  then  from  me,  in  exposing  the  evil,  to  reflect 
upon  individuals,  who  are  rather  its  passive  agents  than 
its  authors.  If  some  there  are,  so  depraved  by  reigning 
corruptions,  as  to  volunteer  their  increase,  and  fight  their 
way  to  false  honor  and  foul  wealth,  by  falsehoods  uncall- 
ed for,  dishonesty  and  defamation  as  unmanly  as  they  are 
gratuitously  wicked,  still  are  there  others  who  mourn  in 
secret,  while  they  conciliate  ruling  prejudices,  and  who  ask 
pardon  of  truth  while  they  bow  themselves  in  the  house 
of  Rimmon.  Well  do  I  know  this  to  be  widely  true,  with 
respect  to  the  press — widely  true  also,  with  respect  to  the 
teachers  of  our  youth  in  schools  and  colleges — and,  dis- 
posed am  I  to  believe  it  partially  true,  with  respect  to  the 
clergy.  But  for  these  last,  more  especially,  the  rail  road 
is  marked  out,  and  that  they  have  to  tread.  Should  they 
depart  from  it,  the  very  flock  would  rise  up  against  the 
shepherd ;  or  let  us  observe,  that  if  the  flock  should  be 
convinced  by  the  shepherd,  the  very  calling  of  the  shep- 
herd were  destroyed,  the  craft  by  which  he  lives  overthrown. 

I  have  seen  an  honest  teacher  of  religion,  bom  and  bred 
within  the  atmosphere  of  sectarian  faith,  and  whose  hairs 
have  grown  white  in  the  labors  of  sectarian  ministries, 
open  his  mind  to  more  expanded  views,  his  heart  to  more 
expanded  feelings,  and  as  the  hght  dawned  upon  his  own 
reason,  steadily  proclaim  it  to  his  followers.  And  what 
bath  been  the  reward  of  his  honesty?  They  who  should 


LECT.  III.]        DIVISIONS   OP   KNOWLEDGE.  71 

have  blessed,  have  risen  up  against  him ;  the  young  in 
years,  but  the  old  in  falsehood,  even  among  his  followers, 
have  sought  their  own  popularity,  by  proclaiming  his 
heresy ;  nor  rested  from  plots  and  persecutions  until  they 
drove  him  from  his  own  pulpit,  and  shut  the  doors  of  bis 
own  church,  upon  his  venerable  person. 

Such  being  the  reward  of  sincerity,  who  then  shall 
marvel  at  its  absence.  For  myself,  in  exposing  the  dupli- 
city of  the  clergy,  I  neither  marvel  at,  nor  judge  it  in 
severity.  Hypocrisy  is  the  vice  of  the  age,  and  hjrpocrites 
are  made  to  be  its  teachers  ! 

Not  then  in  satire  of  the  clergy,  but  in  good  will  to  my 
fellow  creatures,  have  I  attempted  the  exposure  of  that 
craft,  which  is  necessary  to  the  very  existence  of  the  cleri- 
cal profession.  And  not  from  indifference  to  the  feelings 
of  my  hearers,  but  from  deep  sympathy  with  their  vital 
interests,  shall  I  venture,  now  and  hereafter,  to  probe  their 
secret  thoughts,  and  expose  their  most  cherished  errors. 
In  so  doing,  never  will  it  be  my  intention  to  offend.  I 
would  not  wound  one  conscientious  prejudice ;  not  deal  a 
rough  word  against  one  feeling  of  a  fellow  creature.  But 
I  am  here  to  speak  what  I  believe  the  truth.  I  am  here 
to  speak  that  for  which  some  have  not  the  courage  and 
others  not  the  independence.  I  am  here,  not  to  flatter  the 
ear,  but  to  probe  the  heart ;  not  to  minister  to  vanity,  but 
to  urge  self-examination ;  assuredly,  therefore,  not  to 
court  applause,  but  to  induce  conviction.  Must  it  be  my 
misfortune  to  offend  ?  bear  in  mind  only  that  I  do  it  for 
conscience  sake — ^for  your  sakes.  I  have  wedded  the 
cause  of  human  improvement ;  staked  on  it  my  reputa- 
tion, my  fortune,  and  my  life ;  and  as,  for  it,  I  threw  be- 
hind me  in  earliest  youth  the  follies  of  my  age,  the  luxu- 
ries of  ease  and  European  aristocracy,  so  do  I,  and  so  will 
I;  persevere,  even  as  I  began ;  and  devote  what  remainfi 


t2  DIVISIONS    OF    KNOWLEDGE.        [lECT.  HI. 

to  me  of  talent,  strength,  fortune,  and  existence,  to  the 
same  sacred  cause — ^the  promotion  of  just  knowledge,  the 
establishing  of  just  practice,  the  increase  of  human  happi- 


Such  being  my  motives,  such  my  object,  I  must  entreat 
you  to  enquire  what  the  knowledge  is,  that  you  learn 
from  your  spiritual  teachers.  "  The  knowledge  by  faith," 
they  will  answer  for  you.  "  And  faith,"  they  will  add, 
"  is  the  knowledge  of  things  unseen."  Can  there  be  any 
such  knowledge?  I  put  it  to  your  reason.  Knowledge  we 
have  shown  to  be  ascertained  facts.  Things  unseen! 
Can  human  understanding  know  any  thing  about  them  ? 
More  I  will  ask  :  could  it  be  of  any  utihty  were  even  such 
knowledge  possible  ?  And  do  ye  liire  teachers  to  teach  you 
nonexistent  knowledge,  impossible  knowledge,  and  know- 
ledge which,  even  under  the  supposition  of  its  possibihty, 
could  serve  no  conceivable  purpose  ?  We  are  on  the  earth, 
and  they  tell  us  of  heaven ;  we  are  human  beings,  and 
they  tell  us  of  angels  and  devils  ;  we  are  matter,  and 
they  tell  us  of  spirit :  we  have  five  senses  whereby  to  admit 
truths,  and  a  reasoning  faculty  by  which  to  build  our  be- 
lief upon  them ;  and  they  tell  us  of  dreams  dreamed 
thousands  of  years  ago,  which  all  our  experience  flatly 
contradicts. 

Again  I  must  intreat  your  patience — your  gentle  hear- 
ing. I  am  not  going  to  question  your  opinions.  I  am  not 
going  to  meddle  with  your  beUef.  I  am  not  going  to  dic- 
tate to  you  mine.  All  that  I  say  is,  examine  ;  enquire. 
Look  into  the  nature  of  things.  Search  out  the  ground 
of  your  opinions,  the /or  and  the  against.  Know  whi/ 
you  beUeve,  understand  what  you  believe,  and  possess  a 
reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  you. 

But  your  spiritual  teachers  caution  you  against  enquiry — 
tell  you  not  to  read  certain  books  ;  not  to  listen  to  ceitain 


LECT.  III.]        DIVISIONS    OP   KNOWLEDGE.  73 

people ;  to  beware  of  profane  learning ;  to  submit  your 
reason,  and  to  receive  their  doctrines  for  truths.  Such  ad- 
vice renders  them  suspicious  counsellors.  By  their  own 
creed,  you  hold  your  reason  from  their  God.  Go !  ask 
them  why  he  gave  it. 

Be  not  afraid  !  If  that  being  which  they  tell  us  of  exist, 
we  shall  find  him  in  his  works.  If  that  revelation  be  his 
which  they  tell  us  to  revere,  we  shall  find  all  nature  and 
its  occurrences,  all  matter  and  its  phenomena,  bearing  tes- 
timony to  its  truth.  Be  not  afraid  !  In  admitting  a  crea- 
tgr,  refuse  not  to  examine  his  creation  ;  and  take  not  the 
assertions  of  creatures  hke  yourselves,  in  place  of  the  evi- 
dence of  your  senses  and  the  conviction  of  your  under- 
standing. 

But  you  will  say,  the  clergy  are  moral  teachers  no  less 
than  religious.  They  form  and  amend  our  practice  as 
well  as  dictate  our  belief. 

My  friends  !  we  have  ascertained  the  contrary.  We 
have  seen  that  from  Maine  to  Missouri — ^from  hence  each 
way  to  our  antipodes — ^the  hired  preachers  of  all  sects, 
creeds,  and  rehgions,  never  do,  and  never  can,  teach  any 
thing  but  what  is  in  conformity  with  the  opinions  of  those 
who  pay  them.  We  have  substantiated  the  fact,  that  they 
never  did,  and  never  can,  touch  the  master  vice,  whatever 
it  be,  and  wherever  found.  We  know  that  they  ever  have, 
and  ever  must,  persecute  truth,  by  whomsoever  discovered 
— ^by  Galileo,  or  by  Leslie  and  Lawrence ;  we  know  that 
they  have  stifled  enquiry,  wherever  started,  in  every 
age  and  every  nation  on  the  globe  ;  and  that  hardly  a  fact^ 
in  science  or  a  truth  in  philosophy,  but  has  been  pm'chased 
with  the  blood,  or  the  hberty,  or  the  domestic  peace  of  a 
martyr.  We  have  traced  this  conduct  of  your  teachers 
to  its  cause.  Remove  the  cause,  and  the  effect  shall  cease. 
Give  premiums  for  the  discovery  and  revelation  of  know- 

G  10 


>/ 


74  DIVISIONS    OP    KNOWLEDGE.         [lECT.  III. 

ledge,  not  for  its  repression !  Take  for  your  teachers  ex- 
perimental philosophers,  not  spiritual  dreamers !  Turn 
your  churches  into  halls  of  science,  and  devote  your  leisure 
day  to  the  study  of  your  oa\ti  bodies,  the  analysis  of  your 
own  minds,  and  the  examination  of  the  fair  material 
world  which  extends  around  you  !  Examine  the  expenses 
of  your  present  religious  system.  Calculate  all  that  is 
spent  in  multiplying  churches  and  salarying  their  minis- 
ters; in  clothing  and  feeding  travelling  preachers,  who 
fill  your  streets  and  highways  with  trembling  fanatics,  and 
your  very  forests  with  frantic  men  and  hysterical  women. 
Estimate  all  the  fruits  of  honest  industry  which  are  en- 
gulfed in  the  treasuries  of  bible  societies,  tract  associations, 
and  christian  missions  ;  in  sending  forth  teachers  to  cen- 
tral Africa  and  unexplored  India,  who  know  not  tlie  geo- 
graphy of  their  own  country  ;  and,  hardly  masters  of  their 
native  tongue,  go  to  preach  of  things  unseen  to  nations 
unknown ;  compassing  the  earth  to  add  error  to  ignorance, 
and  the  frenzy  of  rehgious  fanaticism  to  the  ferocity  of 
savage  existence.  See  the  multitude  and  activity  of  your 
emissaries  !  Weigh  the  expenses  of  your  outlay  and  out- 
fit, and  then  examine  if  this  cost  and  this  activity  could 
not  be  more  usefully  employed.  By  a  late  estimate,  we 
learn  the  yearly  expenses  of  the  existing  religious  system, 
to  exceed  in  these  United  States  twenty  millions  of  dollars. 
Twenty  miUions  !  For  teaching  what  1  Things  unseen, 
and  causes  unknown  !  Why,  here  is  more  than  enough  to 
purchase  the  extract  of  all  just  knowledge — that  is,  of 
things  seen  and  causes  known,  gathered  by  patient  phi- 
losophy through  all  past  time  up  to  the  present  hour. 
Things  unseen  sell  dear.  Is  it  not  worth  our  while  to 
compare  the  value  with  the  cost,  and  to  strike  the  balance 
^jetween  them  ? 

If  we  consider  that  there  is  no  arriving  at  just  practice 


LECT.  III.]  DIVISIONS    OF    KNOWLEDGE.  75 

but  through  just  opinions,  and  no  arriving  at  just  opinions 
but  through  just  knowledge,  we  must  perceive  the  full  im- 
portance of  the  proposed  enquiry.  Twenty  millions  would 
more  than  suffice  to  make  us  wise  ;  and,  alas  !  do  they  not 
more  than  suffice  to  make  us  foolish  ?  I  entreat  you,  but 
for  one  moment,  to  conceive  the  mental  and  moral  revolu- 
tion there  would  be  in  this  nation,  were  these  twenty  mil- 
lions, or  but  one  half — but  one  third  of  that  sum,  employ- 
ed in  the  equal  distribution  of  accurate  knowledge.  Had 
you,  in  each  of  your  churches,  a  teacher  of  elementary 
science,  so  that  all  the  citizens,  young  and  old,  might  culti- 
vate that  laudable  curiosity  without  which  the  human  ani- 
mal is  lower  than  the  brute,  we  should  not  then  see  men  stag- 
gering imder  intoxication,  nor  lounging  in  imbecile  idle- 
ness ;  nor  should  we  hear  women  retailing  scandal  from 
door  to  door,  nor  children  echoing  ribaldry  in  the  streets, 
and  vying  with  the  monkey  in  mischief. 

"  But,"  you  will  say,  "  the  clergy  preach  against  these 
things."  And  when  did  mere  preaching  do  any  good  ? 
Put  something  in  the  place  of  these  things.  Fill  the  va- 
cuum of  the  mind.  Awaken  its  powers,  and  it  will  respect 
itself.  Give  it  worthy  objects  on  which  to  spend  its  strength, 
and  it  will  riot  no  more  in  wantoimess.  Do  the  clergy  this? 
Do  they  not  rather  demand  a  prostration  of  the  intellect — 
a  humbhng  and  debasing  of  the  spirit  ?  Is  not  their  know- 
ledge that ,  of  things  unseen,  speaking  neither  to  the 
senses,  nor  to  the  faculties  ?  Are  not  their  doctrines,  by 
their  own  confession,  incomprehensible  ?  Is  not  their  mo- 
rality based  upon  human  depravity  ?  Preach  they  not  the- 
innate  corruption  of  our  race  ?  Away  with  this  libel  of 
our  nature  !  Away  with  this  crippling,  debasing,  cowardly 
theory  !  Long,  long  enough  hath  this  foul  slander  ob- 
scured our  prospects,  paralyzed  our  efforts,  crushed  the  ge- 
nerous spirit  within  us  !     Away  with  it !  such  a  school 


76  DIVISIONS    OF    KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  III. 

never  made  a  race  of  freemen.  And,  see  !  in  spite  of  the 
doctrine,  to  what  heights  of  virtue  and  intelligence  hath 
not  man  attained  !  Think  of  his  discoveries  in  science — 
spite  of  chains,  and  dungeons,  and  gibbets,  and  ana- 
themas !  Think  of  his  devotion  to  principle  !  Even 
when  in  error,  great  in  his  devotion  !  Think  of  the  ener- 
gy stronger  than  power,  the  benevolence  supreme  over  sel- 
fishness, the  courage  conquering  in  death,  with  which  he 
fought,  and  endured,  and  persevered  through  ages,  until 
he  won  his  haven  of  liberty  in  America !  Yes  !  he  has  won 
it  The  noble  creature  has  proved  his  birthright.  May  he 
learn  to  use  and  to  enjoy  it ! 

But  how  shall  he  do  this  ?  Sons  and  daughters  of  Ame- 
rica !  'tis  for  you  to  answer.  When  will  ye  improve  the 
liberty  for  which  your  fathers  sought  an  unknown  world? 
When  will  ye  appreciate  the  treasure  they  have  won?  When 
will  ye  see,  that  hberty  leans  her  right  arm  on  know- 
ledge, and  that  knowledge  points  you  to  the  world  ye  in- 
habit ? 

Consider  that  world,  my  friends  !  Enable  yourselves, 
by  mastering  the  first  elements  of  knowledge,  to  judge  of 
the  nature  and  importance  of  all  its  difierent  branches. 
Fit  yourselves  for  the  examination  of  your  opinions,  and 
then  examine  your  opinions.  Read,  enquire,  reason, 
reflect !  Wrong  not  your  understandings  by  doubting 
their  perception  of  moral,  any  more  than  of  physical, 
truth.  Wrong  not  the  God  ye  worship  by  imagining  him 
armed  with  thunders  to  protect  the  tree  of  knowledge  from 
approach.  If  ye  conceive  yourselves  as  holding  from  one 
great  being  your  animate  existence,  employ  his  first  best 
gift — your  reason.  Scan  with  your  reason  that  which  ye 
are  told  is  his  word,  scan  with  your  senses  those  which  ye 
are  told  are  his  works.  Receive  no  man's  assertion.  Believe 
no  conviction  but  your  own  ;  and  respect  not  your  own 


LECT.  III.]  DIVISIONS  OP   KNOWLEDGE.  77 

until  ye  know  that  ye  have  exammed  both  sides  of  every 
question  ;  collected  all  evidence,  weighed,  compared,  and 
digested  it ;  sought  it  at  the  fountain  head  ;  received  it 
never  through  suspicious  channels — altered,  mutilated,  or 
defaced  ;  but  pure,  genuine,  from  the  authorities  them- 
selves. Examine  ye  things  ?  look  to  the  fact.  Examine 
ye  books  ?  to  the  text.  And,  when  ye  look,  and  when  ye 
read,  be  sure  that  ye  see,  and  be  sure  that  ye  under- 
stand. Ask  why  of  every  teacher.  Ask  why  over 
every  book.  While  there  is  a  doubt,  suspend  judgement; 
while  one  evidence  is  wanting,  withhold  assent. 

Observe  here  the  advantage  of  material  science.  Does 
the  physician — (I  use  the  word  here,  as  I  shall  often  have 
occasion  to  use  it  hereafter,  to  signify  the  student  of  phy- 
sics, or  the  observer  of  nature) — does  the  physician  tell  you 
that  water  is  compounded  of  gases  ?  He  performs  the  ex- 
periment. That  the  atmosphere  is  another  compound  ? 
The  same.  That  more  or  less  of  activity  is  in  all  matter? 
He  shows  you  the  formation  of  crystals  in  their  bed,  and 
composes  and  decomposes  them  before  ye.  Does  he  tell  you 
that  matter  is  ever  changing,  but  never  losing  7  He  ana- 
lyzes the  substance  before  your  eyes,  and  gives  you  its  ele- 
ments with  nothing  wanting.  Do  the  anatomist  and  phy- 
siologist describe  the  structure  and  texture  of  your  bodies  ? 
They  show  you  their  hidden  arcana,  dissect  their  parts, 
and  trace  their  relation  ;  explain  the  mechanism  of  each 
organ,  and  observe,  with  you,  its  uses  and  functions.  Do 
the  geologist  and  mineralogist  speak  to  us  of  the  structure 
and  component  parts  of  this  globe  ?  They  explain  to  us 
the  strata  of  earths  ;  the  position  of  rocks  ;  the  animal  re- 
mains they  envelope  ;  the  marks  they  exhibit  of  convulsion 
or  of  rest — of  violent  and  sudden,  or  of  gradual  and  silent, 
phenomena.  See,  then,  the  superiority  of  physical  science ! 
g2 


78  DIVISIONS    OF    KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  III. 

The  proof  comes  with  the  assertion ;  the  fact  constitutes 
the  truth. 

But,  you  will  say,  there  is  other  evidence  than  the  phy- 
sically tangible— other  truths  than  those  admitted  through 
the  senses.  There  is  the  more  immediate  and  the  more 
remote  testimony  of  our  senses ;  nothing  more,  nothing 
less.  Will  you  appeal  to  numerical  and  geometrical  truth  ? 
Had  we  no  senses,  could  we  know  any  thing  of  either  ? 
Were  there  no  objects,  no  substances  and  existences  around 
you,  how  could  you  conceive  of  number  or  of  form  ?  If  the 
child  see  not  four  things^  how  shall  he  understand  the 
meaning  of  four  7  If  he  see  not  two  halves,  put  them 
together,  divide  them,  compare  them,  measure,  weigh  them, 
how  shall  he  know  that  two  halves  are  equal  to  a  whole  1 
or  a  whole  greater  than  its  part  ?  These  are  the  simple 
truths  conceived  by  the  philosopher  of  nature,  Pestalozzi. 
Here  are  the  leading  beauties  of  that  system  of  experi- 
mental instruction  which  he  so  long  strove  to  put  in  prac- 
tice, and  which  time  may  enable  others  successfully  to 
develope. 

But,  I  hear  you  again  object,  that  there  are  truths  ap- 
pealing only  to  the  mind,  or  directly  to  the  feelings  :  such 
are  moral  truths.  The  varying  degree  of  sensibility 
evinced  by  individuals  towards  the  joys  and  sorrows  of 
others  is  apparent  to  every  observer.  This  sensibility 
forms  the  basis  of  virtue  ;  and,  when  by  meatis  of  expe- 
rience we  have  distinguished  painful  from  pleasurable  sen- 
sations in  our  own  case,  this  sensibility  assists  us  to  estimate 
them  in  the  case  of  others.  Yet  have  we  no  doors  by  which  to 
admit  knowledge  but  the  senses.  We  ascertain  what  is  good 
or  evil  by  experience.  The  beneficial  or  injurious  conse- 
quences of  actions  make  us  pronounce  them  virtuous  or 
vicious.  The  man  of  cultivated  sensibility  then  refers  his 


LECT.  III.]  DIVISIONS   OF   KNOWLEDGE.  7^ 

sensations  and  applies  his  experience  to  others,  and  sym- 
pathises in  the  pain  or  the  pleasure  he  conceives  them  to 
feel.  But,  here  are  our  moral  truths  also  based  upon 
fact.  There  is  no  test  of  these  but  experience.  That 
is  good  which  produces  good ;  that  evil,  which  produces 
evil ;  and,  were  our  senses  different  from  what  they  are, 
our  virtue  and  our  vice  would  be  different  also.  Let  us 
have  done  with  abstractions  !  Truth  is  fact.  Virtue  is 
beneficial  action;  vice,  mischievous  action;  virtuous  feel- 
ings are  those  which  impart  pleasure  to  the  bosom ;  bad 
feeUngs,  those  which  disturb  and  torment  it.  Be  not 
anxious  in  seeking  your  rule  of  life.  Consult  experi- 
ence ;  your  own  sensations,  the  sensations  of  others. 
These  are  surer  guides  than  laws  and  doctrines,  and  when 
the  law  and  the  doctrine  coincide  not  with  the  evidence  of 
your  senses,  and  the  tei^timony  of  your  reason,  be  satis- 
fied that  the^/j  that  is,  the  law  and  the  doctrine^  are 
false. 

Think  of  these  things  !  Weigh  the  truth  of  what  I 
advance  !  Go  to  your  churches  with  your  understandings 
open.  Enquire  the  meaning  of  the  words  ye  hear — ^the 
value  of  the  ideas.  See  if  they  be  worth  twenty  millions 
of  dollars  !  And,  if  they  be  not,  withhold  your  contribu- 
tions. But — ye  will  be  afraid.  Afiraid  !  of  what  ? — of 
acting  conscientiously  ?  of  acting  reasonably  1  Come  ! 
learn,  then,  of  a  stranger  and  a  woman  !  Be  bold  to  speak 
what  ye  think  and  feel ;  and  to  act  in  accordance  with  your 
beUef  Prefer  your  self  respect  to  the  respect  of  others. 
Nay  !  secure  your  own  respect,  and  command  that  of 
others. 

I  speak  with  warmth.  I  feel  warmly.  The  happiness, 
the  honor,  the  dignity  of  man,  are  dear  to  my  heart  His 
ignorance  afflicts  me ;  his  cowardice  afflicts  me ;  his  indif- 


^  DIVISIONS  OP   KNOWLEDGE.  [lECT.  III. 

ference  afflicts  me.     He  feels  not  for  himself,  he  feels  not 
for  his  race. 

But — ^ye  will  wipe  off  this  stain.  Ye  will  awake  to  the 
uses  of  things.  Ye  will  enquire.  Ye  will  collect  just 
knowledge.  Ye  will  cultivate  your  reason.  Ye  will  im- 
prove your  nature. 

Many  are  the  societies,  associations,  treasury  funds, 
among  you.  Organize  a  society  for  the  promotion  of  just 
knowledge.  Raise  an  edifice,  sacred  to  national  union 
and  national  instruction,  capable  of  holding  from  three 
to  five  thousand  individuals,  where  the  citizens  of  all  ages 
may  assemble  for  the  acquisition  of  useful  knowledge,  and 
for  the  cultivation  of  that  social  feeling  and  brotherly  fellow- 
ship, without  which  no  real  repubUc  can  have  an  existence. 
Select  good  instructors,  masters  of  science,  and  capable  of 
developing  it  easily  and  agreeably.  Attach  to  the  institu- 
tion your  museums  and  your  pubhc  Hbraries.  These  are 
of  httle  use  single,  detached,  and  unassisted  by  the  eluci- 
dations of  experienced  instructors.  Such  an  institution  as 
that  I  have  now  sketched,  should  be  open  to  as  many  as 
possible  free  of  all  charge.  The  rent  of  a  portion  of  the 
seats  might  be  devoted  to  the  remuneration  of  such  indivi- 
duals as  could  not  bestow  their  labors  gratuitously.  The 
building  itself,  I  am  disposed  to  hope,  could  be  raised  for 
such  a  purpose  by  voluntary  contributions. 

As  soon  as  possible,  there  should  be  attached  to  this  hall 
of  science,  a  school  of  industry,  which,  in  time,  might  be 
made  to  cover  its  own  expenses  by  the  labor  of  the  chil- 
dren. Here,  besides  the  imparting  of  useful  trades,  would 
be  held  also,  the  earUer  classes  in  intellectual  knowledge: 
and,  when  sufiiciently  advanced,  the  young  people  could 
perfect  their  studies  in  the  hall  of  science.  In  the  com- 
mencement, the  school  of  industry  might  be  conducted  on 
the  plan  of  a  day  school  only,  where,  at  successive  hours, 


LECT.  III.]        DIVISIONS    OF    KNOWLEDGE.  81 

the  teachers  in  the  various  branches  of  knowledge,  me- 
chanical and  intellectual,  might  hold  their  classes. 

Nor  let  the  rich  imagine  that  such  a  plan  of  education 
would  not  advantage  them  equally  with  the  poor.  What 
is  the  education  they  now  command  ?  At  once  false,  im- 
perfect, and  expensive.  Nor  let  them  imagine  that  any 
can  be  well  trained  until  all  are  well  trained.  Example 
is  more  than  precept.  While  the  many  are  left  in  igno- 
rance, the  few  cannot  be  wise,  for  they  cannot  be  virtuous. 
Look  to  your  jails,  your  penitentiaries,  your  poor-houses  ! 
Look  to  your  streets,  your  haunts  of  vice,  your  hovels  of 
wretchedness  !  Look  to  the  unhappy  victims  of  poverty, 
of  passion,  gambUng,  drinking.  Alas,  the  heart  turns 
sick,  and  the  tongue  falters,  under  the  enumeration  of  all 
the  shapes  and  sounds  of  suffering  which  affright  the  eye 
and  the  ear  of  humanity  ! 

And  what  is  the  cause  of  all  this  ?  Ignorance  !  Ig- 
norance !  There  is  none  other.  Oh !  then,  be  up 
and  be  doing  !  Rich  and  poor,  be  up  and  be  doing. 
Are  ye  not  all  fellow  creatures  ?  Are  ye  not  all  of  one* 
form,  of  one  nature?  Have  ye  not  all  the  same 
wants  ?  Oh  !  then,  why  have  ye  not  the  same  interests  ? 
And  ye  have — ye  have.  Oh  that  ye  could  believe  it !  Oh 
that  ye  could  see  it !  Oh  that  ye  would  unite  under  the 
wings  of  liberty  as  brothers,  as  equals,  as  fellow  men ! 
Oh  that  ye  would  enter  as  one  family  the  courts  of  know- 
ledge, and  cast  down  at  her  feet  your  prejudices,  your  dis- 
sentions,  your  jealousies,  your  fears  !  Whenever  the  peo- 
ple of  all  the  larger  towns  shall  begin  the  good  work  of 
popular  and  equal  instruction,  the  same  must  soon  become 
a  state  concern ;  and  instead  of  endowing,  as  is  now  thef; 
custom,  colleges  for  the  erroneous  education  of  the  few,  we 
shall  see  spread  throughout  the  land,  national  institutions 
for  the  rational  education  of  the  many.     To  this  primary 

11 


82  DIVISIONS    OF    KNOWLEDGE.        [lECT.  III. 

object  will  be  then  directed  the  legislation  of  all  the  states; 
to  the  same  object  the  taxation  of  all  the  states  ;  to  the 
same,  also,  those  contributions  which  are  now  devoted  to 
the  building  of  sectarian  churches,  each  frowning  defiance 
at  the  other,  and  sectarian  preachers  all  flourishing  the 
torch  of  discord,  and  fighting  each  his  own  battle  for 
wealth  and  supremacy,  against  common  sense  and  the 
common  weal. 

But  the  tree  which  hereafter  shall  shadow  the  land, 
must  grow  from  a  small  seed.  Plant  ye  that  seed  now, 
that  ye  may  see  it  shoot  and  blossom,  and  that  your  chil- 
dren may  reap  of  its  fruits.  Look  around  upon  each  other 
as  upon  fellow  citizens  and  fellow  creatures,  interested 
alike  in  the  discovery  of  the  true  and  the  useful,  for  the 
common  advantage  of  all.  Unite — unite  for  the  promo- 
tion of  knowledge  !  Exchange  the  spirit  of  sectarianism 
for  that  of  universal  love,  charity,  and  toleration.  Turn 
from  the  teachers  of  strife,  and  seek  ye  out  enquirers  after 
truth.  Look  around  first  among  yourselves.  Seek  out 
the  talent  that  is  at  home,  and  when  ye  find  it  not,  invite 
it  from  afar.  Encourage  the  wise  to  come  among  ye  in- 
stead of  the  foolish;  the  peaceful  and  enlightened  instead  of 
the  noisy  ignorant;  the  reasoner  instead  of  the  declaimer  ; 
the  child  of  science  who  will  give  you  all  he  knows,  and  seek 
with  you  what  he  knows  not,  instead  of  the  master  by 
right  divine,  who  promulgates  doctrines  without  advan- 
cing evidence,  and  who  stuns  our  human  reason,  as  our 
human  ears,  with  absurdities  which,  he  says^  come  from , 
heaven. 

With  such  guides,  and  engaged  in  such  investigations 
and  undertakings,  as  I  have  ventured  to  recommend,  you 
will  all  meet  on  common  ground.  You  will  no  longer  see 
in  each  other  Calvinists,  baptists,   catholics,  Lutherans, 


LECT.  III.]        DIVISIONS    OF   KNOWLEDGE.  iB3 

methodists.  and  I  know  not  what;  you  will  see  only- 
human  beings.  The  halls  of  science  are  open  to  all ;  her 
truths  are  disputed  by  none.  She  says  not  to  one,  "  eat 
no  meat  on  Fridays  f  to  another,  '•''plunge  in  the  river  f 
to  a  third,  '■^  groan  in  the  spirit  f"*  to  a  fourth,  ^^  wait  for 
the  spirit  f^  to  a  fifth,  "ea^  bread  in  the  Lord  f^  to  a 
sixth,  "ea/  the  Lord  in  bread  f^  to  a  seventh,  "  dance  in 
divine  praise  f^  to  an  eighth,  ^^  dance  not  at  all  f  to  a 
ninth,  ^^  perceive  in  things  visible  the  shadows  of  things 
unseen  f^  to  a  tenth,  '^  there  is  for  you  salvation  f^  and 
to  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  thousandths  of  the  hu- 
man race,  "ye  were  born  for  eternal  fire."  Science  says 
nothing  of  all  this.  She  says,  only,  "  observe,  compare, 
reason,  reflect,  understand  :"  and  the  advantage  is,  that  we 
can  do  all  this  without  quarrelling. 

I  have  now  attempted  to  substantiate,  with  you,  the 
nature,  object,  and  consequences  of  just  knowledge ;  the 
means  proper  for  its  attainment,  and  the  measures  requi- 
site for  securing  those  means  to  yourselves  and  your 
children. 

Considering  the  investigations  we  have  held  together  in 
our  meetings  of  Tuesday,  Thursday,  and  this  evening, 
as  introductory  to  the  examination  of  existing  opinions, 
and  the  present  mode  of  spending  the  leisure  time  and 
surplus  money  (which  I  pray  you  to  bear  in  mind  is  the 
surplus  industry)  of  the  nation,  I  propose  that  we  investi- 
gate, at  our  next  meeting,  more  closely  the  subject  which 
now  engages  your  weekly  attention  in  your  churches. 

The  acquisition  of  knowledge  being  essential  to  our 
happiness,  as  being  the  only  means  by  which  we  can  at- 
tain to  truth  in  opinions,  and  wisdom  in  practice,  it  is  im- 
portant that  we  bestow  on  every  branch  of  it,  an  attention 
exactly  proportionate  to  its  utility.     We  have  observed 


S4  DIVISIONS    OF    KNOWLEDGE.        [lECT.  III. 

Upon  the  importance  of  some  now  entirely  neglected.  It  is 
well  that  we  weigh  accurately  the  value  of  that  which 
now  engrosses  twenty  millions  per  annum  of  the  national 
wealth,  and  that  we  hereafter  apportion  to  it,  liberally  and 
readily,  so  much  of  both  as  we  may  discover  it  to  deserve — 
and  no  more. 


t-* 


LECTURE  IV, 


RELIGION. 

I  HAVE  selected  for  our  consideration  this  evening  a  sub- 
ject which  we  are  generally  accustomed  to  consider  as  of 
vital  importance;  which  is  usually  made  to  occupy  the 
human  mind  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  and  which, 
however  varying  in  the  views  and  interpretations  of  its  ex- 
poiuidersj  is  conceived  to  constitute  the  polar  star  of  human 
conduct ;  to  be  our  only  guide  towards  virtue,  our  only  bar 
from  vice,  our  source  of  comfort,  our  anchor  of  hope,  and  at 
once  the  alarming  deterrer  from  crime  and  its  terrific 
avenger.  My  hearers  will  aheady  have  divined  that  our 
subject  is  Religion. 

To  those  who  may  already  have  substantiated  with  me 
those  first  premises,  which  I  am  ever  desirous  should  be 
seen  and  understood  before  I  enter  on  the  discussion  of 
isolated  topics,  or  approach  the  tests  of  reason  and  e:^peri- 
ence  to  all  or  any  of  the  multiform  tribe  of  human  opi- 
nions— ^to  those,  I  say,  among  this  audience,  who  may 
have  attended  the  three  preliminary  discourses  on  know- 
ledge, closed  last  evening,  I  might  consider  all  prefatory 
observations  on  the  present  occasion  unnecessary.  But, 
as  in  all  probabiHty,  I  am  addressing  a  portion  of  this 
audience  for  the  first  time,  I  feel  unwiUing  to  launch  with 
imdue  precipitancy  into  a  discussion  calculated  perhaps  to 
alarm  the  fears  of  some,  and  the  honest  prejudices  of 
others. 


86  RELIGION.  [lECT.    IV. 

Myself  a  scholar,  not  a  teacher,  who  have  purchased 
such  knowledge  as  I  possess,  by  years  of  self-directed  study, 
persevering  observation,  and  untiring  reflection,  I  can  well 
conceive,  for  I  myself  have  experienced,  the  doubts,  difficul- 
ties, hopes,  fears,  and  anxieties,  which  beset  the  awakening 
mind  in  the  early  stage  of  enquiry ;  the  indistinct  and,  often, 
evanescent  perceptions  which  encourage,  and  then  check, 
and  then  again  encourage,  again  to  intimidate  its  advance ; 
the  conflicting  thoughts  and  feelings  with  which  it  has  to 
struggle  ere  it  can  vanquish  early  impressions,  and  con- 
sent to  receive  new  ones,  admit  ideas  subversive  of  those 
which  had  grown  with  its  growth,  and  which,  associated 
with  tender  recollections,  cling  to  the  heart  as  well  as  the 
head,  or,  not  unfrequently,  grafted  on  the  imagination  of 
childhood,  by  an  education  as  cruel  as  erroneous,  continue 
to  alarm  the  fancy  and  agitate  the  nerves  even  after  the 
judgment  has  pronounced  them  chimeras.  All  this  I  can 
understand,  for  all  this  I  have  either  felt  or  observed  in 
others.  Anxiously,  therefore,  would  I  temper  my  words 
to  the  timid,  and,  if  possible,  the  truths  themselves,  which 
we  are  ipaet  to  search  out  and  investigate. 

If,  then,  in  manner  or  in  matter,  I  should  touch  too 
harshly  on  the  opinions  of  some,  or  the  feelmgs  of  any,  I 
will^ray  them  to  absolve  me  of  every  desire  but  that  of 
eliciting  truths  important  to  the  well-being  of  man ;  of 
every  intention  but  that  of  administering  to  the  instruction, 
and  consequently,  to  the  happiness  of  those  I  may  address. 
But,  will  it  be  asked,  why  I  conceive  myself  fitted  to  im- 
part instruction,  and  increase  the  sum  of  human  happi- 
ness ?  For  I  must  observe,  that  the  individual  who  should 
successftilly  attempt  the  one,  must  succeed  in  the  other ; 
error  and  misery  being  inseparable  companions,  and  know- 
ledge and  happiness  the  same.  If  I  have  thus  conceived 
of  myself,  it  has  been  neither  (as  I  at  least  believe)  through 


LECT.   IV.]  RELIGION.  87 

too  high  a  valuation  of  my  own  acquirements,  nor  too 
eager  a  desire  to  assume  that  tone  of  dictation  which  I  am 
accustomed  to  deprecate  in  others.  I  have  advanced  just 
too  far  in  knowledge  to  overrate  my  attainments ;  just  far 
enough  at  once  to  understand  my  own  deficiencies,  and 
to  have  detected  the  false  pretensions  of  many  self-called 
wise.  It  is  to  render  apparent  the  simplicity  of  real,  and  the 
charlatanism  of  false  learning,  that  I  have  volunteered — 
not,  I  request  you  to  beUeve,  without  due  reflection,  and  a 
thorough  understanding  of  all  the  criticism,  censure,  and,  I 
may  say,  unseemly  abuse,  which  I  was  about  to  encoun- 
ter : — that  I  have  volunteered,  I  say,  to  impart  to  others, 
what  I  myself  know,  and,  more  than  all,  to  enlighten  them 
as  to  what  can  really  be  known.  This  has  been  the  more 
especial  object  of  my  previous  discourses  on  knowledge ; 
and,  as  we  then  observed,  so  must  I  now  repeat,  that  until 
we  see  clearly  what  knowledge  is,  we  caimot  perceive  truth, 
detect  error,  nor  possess  one  really  accurate,  reasoned,  and 
consistent  opinion. 

Knowledge,  we  ascertained  to  consist  in  an  accumula- 
tion of  facts.  The  doors  by  which  we  admit  these  facts, 
are  our  senses ;  and  the  means  we  possess  for  judging, 
comparing,  analysing,  and  arranging  these  facts,  are  sup- 
pUed  by  our  faculties,  intellectual  and  moral.  Had  we 
only  senses,  each  impression  would  disappear  with  the  object 
which  excited  it ;  in  which  case,  no  knowledge,  or  accu- 
mulation of  facts,  could  exist  for  us.  But,  having  memory, 
we  can  retain  each  impression,  by  whichsoever  of  our  senses 
received  ;  having  judgment,  we  compare  and  arrange  these 
impressions ;  having  imagination,  we  ingeniously  combine 
impressions,  however  removed  as  to  time,  distant  as  to  place, 
or  slightly  assimilated  by  affinity  or  resemblance.  And, 
having  moral  feelings,  we  consider  all  occurrences  with  a 
reference  to  the  good  or  evil  they  mav  induce  to  our  race. 


8&  RELIGION.  [lECT.  IV. 

By  these  cursory  remarks,  it  is  my  object  to  lead  to  the 
observation,  that  nothing  can  be  known  where  there  is 
nothing  to  operate  on  our  senses  ;  or,  to  place  more  accu- 
rately the  position,  ichere  we  have  no  primary  sensations  to 
constitute  elementary  facts. 

In  my  opening  discourse  upon  the  nature  of  knowledge, 
I  had  occasion  to  insist  especially  on  this  truth ;  reminding 
my  then  audience,  that  the  sciences  but  too  generally 
taught  on  the  erroneous  principle  of  assumed  instead  of 
substantiated  data,  (we  here  instanced  arithmetic,  geometry, 
and  morals,)  were  in  reality  based  upon  demonstrations 
supplied  by  positive  sensations.  I  will  not  say  that  the 
teachers  of  unreal  science,  and  dogmatical  declaimers  upon 
imaginary  subjects  and  unmeaning  words,  are  aware  of 
the  stumbling  block  thrown  in  the  way  of  the  human  in- 
tellect by  the  old ;  and,  alas,  still  the  customary  method  of 
imparting  these  most  important  branches  of  knowledge ; 
but  I  will  say,  that  whether  awake  or  blind  to  the  conse- 
quences, those  consequences  are  as  favourable  to  the  reign 
of  their  errors,  as  they  are  fatal  to  the  progress  of  truth  and 
the  vital  interests  of  man.  Were  every  teacher  called 
upon  to  substantiate  the  elementary  facts  upon  which  he 
builds  the  fabric  of  his  science,  how  would  the  number  of 
our  dogmatical  assertions  and  unsubstantiated  doctrines — 
ay  !  and  the  list  of  our  sciences  themselves,  be  curtailed  ! 

In  that  dawn  of  intellect,  however  brilliant,  which  broke 
on  ancient  Greece,  when  the  range  of  human  observation 
was  circumscribed  within  the  limits  imposed  by  a  clumsy 
and  imperfect  system  of  navigation,  and  by  a  world  of  un- 
broken forest,  and  widely  extended  barbarism,  and  farther 
circumscribed  within  the  limits  of  the  human  vision,  un- 
aided by  telescope  or  microscope,  and  all  the  ingenious 
materiel  which  now  aids  the  labours  of  the  physician,  and 
has  revealed  to  us  the  anatomy  of  matter,  with  all  its 


LECT.  IV.]  liELlGION.  89 

wonder-working  qualities — such  as  we  are  accustomed  to 
distinguish  by  the  names  of  attraction,  electricity,  resist- 
ance, form,  colour,  motion,  rest,  and  we  may  add,  feeling, 
thought,  and  life.  In  that  bright,  but  only  opening  dawn 
of  human  enquiry,  science  had  hardly  an  existence.  Facts 
were  wanting;  the  means  for  accumulating  these  were 
not  devised,  and  therefore,  while  excelling  in  all  the  arts 
for  which  the  state  of  his  knowledge,  the  form  of  his  go- 
vernment, and  his  exquisite  physical  organization  com- 
bined to  fit  him,  (we  may  here  more  especially  particular- 
ize painting,  sculpture,  architecture,  poetry,  and  oratory,) 
we  observe  the  ingenious  Athenian  to  have  been  invariably 
a  false  logician,  and  an  absurd  physician.  Physician  in- 
deed was  a  word  inapplicable  to  him,  for  he  knew  nothing 
of  physics.  With  him,  all  was  theory  and  nothing  fact ; 
and  knowledge,  let  it  ever  be  remembered,  is  all  fact,  and 
never  theory. 

But,  before  we  leave  the  interesting  people  to  whom  we 
have  alluded,  I  would  request  you  to  observe,  that  while 
the  moderns  have  opened  a  field  of  inquiry  imknown  to 
the  ancients — ^while  they  have  substantiated  facts  subversive 
of  all  their  dreams — ^we  are  still  in  the  habit  of  employing 
in  our  seminaries  of  learning,  such  of  their  elementary 
books,  as  the  devastation  of  time  and  of  early  Christian 
fanaticism  have  spared  to  us,  and  of  following  out  theu' 
method   of   instruction  wherever  it  was  most  defective. 
Thus  are  we  still  in  the  habit  of  imparting  to  the  child  a 
first  idea  of  number  through  the  medium  of  allegorical 
ciphers,  instead  of  tangible  and  visible  objects  ;  thus  do  we 
still  persist  in  substantiating  solely  by  a  process  of  abstract 
reasoning,  based  upon  verbal  sophisms,  the  truths  involved 
in  geometrical  science,  instead  of  first  submitting  those 
truths  in  the  form  of  facts  to  the  eye ;  and  thus  also  are  we 
wise  enough  to  persecute  such  teachers  as  have  judgment 
h2 


^  RELIGION.  [lECT.  IV. 

sufficient  to  distinguish  the  better  method,  and  courage  suf- 
ficient to  attempt  its  adoption.  We  might  here  further 
observe,  that  the  logic  of  Aristotle,  with  its  text  additionally 
obscured  and  confounded  by  the  labours  of  puzzle-headed 
commentators,  was,  till  within  a  few  years,  held  in  vulgar 
respect,  and  vulgar  use,  throughout  the  seminaries  of  the 
world.  And,  should  we  examine,  we  might  find,  in  spite 
of  the  labours  of  a  Locke  and  a  Condillac,  and  others, 
wiser  yet,  because  aided  by  the  hght  previously  thrown  on 
the  path  of  knowledge  by  a  succession  of  giant  intellects, 
that  the  erroneous  mode  of  reasoning  admired  in  ancient 
Greece,  yet  lives,  imder  modified  but,  perhaps  therefore, 
more  dangerous  forms,  in  the  schools,  colleges,  and 
churches  of  modem  Europe,  and  revolutionized  America. 
I  may  be  alluding  here  to  subjects  imfortunately  foreign 
to  the  apprehension  of  a  large  portion  of  this  audience. 
Unfortunately,  say  I  ?  ay !  and  most  inconsistently  and 
unjustly :  inconsistently,  if  we  consider  the  nature  of  the 
national  institutions  which  secure  equal  rights,  and  conse- 
quently, equal  instruction,  (necessary,  as  I  have  formerly 
shown,  to  the  understanding,  protection,  and  just  exercise 
of  those  rights,)  to  all  the  citizens ;  and  unjustly,  if  we 
consider  the  great  principle  of  liberty,  which  proclaims  to 
the  enlightened  mind  the  equal  rights  of  all  human  kind. 
If  the  prefatory  observations  which  I  have  felt  necessary 
for  the  elucidation  of  our  subject,  should  prove  difficult  of « 
apprehension  to  any  present,  may  it  serve  as  an  additional 
stimulus  towards  the  adoption  of  some  measures  for  the 
popular  instruction,  by  devoting  some  of  the  now  misspent 
time,  and  misspent  money,  to  this  desirable  object.  Now, 
as  on  all  other  occasions,  my  utmost  ingenuity  is  apphed 
as  well  to  simphfy  my  words  as  my  arguments  ;  and  I 
wish  the  least  informed  of  my  hearers  could  believe  that 
all  the  facts  to  which  I  refer,  and  all  the  learning  to  which 


LECT.  IV.]  RELIGION.  91 

I  find  myself  constrained  to  allude,  are  of  most  easy  at- 
tainment ;  far,  far  easier  than  are  the  errors  over  which 
they  are  now  perhaps  weekly  stumbling  in  the  churches 
of  this  city. 

But,  to  return  from  our  digressions,  and  to  point  out 
more  distinctly  the  conclusions  towards  which  my  pre- 
vious  observations  have  aimed : — it  is  a  fact  well  known 
to  the  really  enlightened,  and  well  known  also,  I  beheve, 
to  the  designing,  who  live  by  the  ignorance  of  the  multi- 
tude, that  every  thing  depends  upon  the  manner  of  con- 
veying instruction,  and  upon  the  first  premises  from  which 
subsequent  arguments  are  deduced,  and  thus  final  con- 
clusions estabhshed. 

It  is  not  many  years,  since  a  native  of  Switzerland, 
whose  opportunities  were  confined  within  the  limits  pre- 
scribed by  poverty,  and  to  the  society  of  a  simple  mountain 
peasantry,  but  whose  native  intellect,  and  unsophisticated 
observation,  led  him  to  distiaguish  some  first  principles, 
which  the  more  learned  have  been  accustomed  to  overlook; 
and,  above  aU,  whose  beautiful  moral  feelings,  led  him  to 
see  in  every  human  being,  a  brother — ^it  is  only  as  it  were 
yesterday,  that  this  sunple  philosopher,  among  a  simple 
people,  caught  a  first  gUmpse  of  a  true  and  rational  method 
of  instruction  ;  namely,  by  first  addressing  the  senses,  and 
through  them,  awakening  the  faculties,  commanding  the 
attention,  and  convincing  the  reason.  Led  by  his  exam- 
ple, other  generous  minds  have  labored  to  improve  the 
idea  he  had  origmated ;  and  the  day  must  be  fast  approach- 
ing, when  the  same  correct  principle  will  be  apphed  to 
every  branch  of  knowledge,  and  prevail  throughout  the 
civilized  world. 

And  yet,  hitherto,  the  enemies  of  human  improvement, 
have  shown  a  quicker  scent  to  the  consequences  of  the 
radical  reform,  suggested  by  Pestalozzi,  than  have  the 


92  RELIGION.  [lECT.  IV. 

nations  who  are  to  profit  by  it.  Even  the  leaden  faculties 
of  the  despot  of  Austria,  quickened  by  the  imperial 
anxiety,  as  he  himself  expressed  it,  to  possess  within  his 
dominions,  not  wise  men  but  obedient  subjects,  could  per- 
ceive the  danger  to  kingcraft,  and  its  coadjutor  priestcraft, 
in  a  mode  of  instruction  which  taught  the  opening  mind 
to  see  through  the  eye,  and  hear  through  the  ear,  and  be- 
lieve only  upon  the  testimony  of  fact,  experiment,  and  ex- 
perience. The  yomig  Pestalozzian  schools,  started  by  the 
patriots  of  Italy,  in  the  short  dawn  of  liberty  which  so  late- 
ly broke  on  their  unhappy  country,  only  to  close  in  darker 
night,  were  overthrown,  and  their  very  foundations  plough- 
ed up,  by  the  soldiers  of  the  holy  ally.  In  Spain,  similar 
efforts  met  of  course  with  a  similar  fate.  In  Switzerland, 
Pestalozzi's  native  Switzerland,  the  aristocratic  cantons 
saw  the  threatened  danger  to  the  pretensions  of  the  few 
in  the  simple  labors  of  the  friend  of  the  many.  In  France, 
the  Jesuits,  resuscitated  for  a  while  l:)y  the  imbecile  Bour- 
bons, persecuted  aUke  all  instruction  but  that  patronized 
by  the  servants  of  rehgion :  and,  even  here,  in  republican 
America,  such  has  been  the  influence  of  superstition,  and 
of  the  teachers  of  superstition,  that  the  efforts  of  Pestaloz- 
zian disciples,  have  been  for  the  most  part  paralized,  and 
invariably  impeded. 

And  why  in  all  countries — why  in  either  world  this 
persecution? 

Because  educators  of  youth,  who  speak  to  the  mind,  by 
tangible  objects  presented  to  the  senses,  and  who  encourage 
their  disciples  to  look  to  things,  and  to  seek  the  proof  in 
the  fact,  have  been  supposed  to  prepare  unmanageable 
subjects  for  kings,  and  troublesome  disciples  for  priests. 
And' most  wise  this  apprehension  on  the  part  of  those  who 
would  command  the  blind  obedience,  or  the  blind  belief  of 
their  fellow-men  !  Most  wise  this  apprehension  on  the  part 


XECT    IV.]  RELIGION.  93 

of  those  whose  power  lies  in  the  weakness  of  those  they 
rule,  or  in  the  ignorance  of  those  they  lead  !  They  alone, 
who  have  justice  on  their  side,  fear  not  to  have  to  do  with 
free  minds ;  they  alone,  who  have  truth  on  their  side,  fear 
not  to  encounter  knowledge. 

But,  would  we  not  have  truth  and  justice  on  our  side  ? 
What  interests  have  we  inconsistent  with  either  ?  What 
have  we  to  fear  from  the  bold  enquiry  of  free  intellects  ? 
Why  should  we  shrink  from  the  fulness  and  from  the 
universality  of  knowledge?  ^ 

But  what  is  knowledge  ?  Again  must  we  put  the  ques- 
tion. Again  must  we  repeat  the  answer :  for  on  this 
answer,  my  friends,  depends  the  truth  or  the  falsehood  of 
every  opinion  we  hold,  the  reahty  or  unsubstantiaUty  of  ^ 
every  subject  presented  for  our  investigation. 

Knowledge  signifies  things  known.  Where  there  are 
no  things  known^  there  is  no  knowledge.  Where  there 
are  ho  things  to  he  known,  there  can  he  no  knowledge. 
We  have  observed  that  every  science,  that  is,  every  branch 
of  knowledge,  is  compounded  of  certain  facts,  of  which 
our  sensations  furnish  the  evidence.  Where  no  such  evi- 
dence is  supplied,  we  are  without  data  ;  we  are  without 
first  premises  ;  and  when,  without  these,  we  attempt  to 
build  up  a  science,  we  do  as  those  who  raise  edifices  with- 
out foundations.  And  what  do  such  builders  construct  1 
Castles  in  the  air. 

Havmg  now,  I  trust,  substantiated  the  nature  of  know- 
ledge, and  the  basis  of  all  true  science,  I  would  suggest  the 
propriety  of  examinmg  into  the  reaUty  of  the  science, 
current  among  us  under  the  varying  name  of  religion, 
theology,  or  divinity.  As  this  science  now  draws  from  the 
surplus  industry  of  the  American  nation,  twenty  miUions 
per  annum,  and  as  it  is  legally  authorised  to  consume  all 
the  leisure  days  of  the  industrious  classes,  and  farther  re- 


94  RELIGION.  [lECT.  IV. 

commended  to  consume  all  the  leisure  hours  snatched  from 
their  days  of  labor,  I  think  we  must  admit  the  examina- 
tion to  be  not  imcalled  for. 

It  will  be  conceded  that  religion  engulfs  more  money 
and  more  time,  than  any  subject  wliich  ever  agitated  the 
enquiring  mind  of  man.  You  will  reply,  that  it  is  because 
it  involves  his  most  important  interests.  Such  indeed 
ought  to  be  the  case,  judging  from  all  that  is  expended 
upon  it. 

Admitting  rehgion  to  be  the  most  important  of  all  sub- 
jects, its  truths  must  be  the  most  apparent ;  for  we  shall 
readily  concede,  both  that  a  thing  tme,  must  be  always 
of  more  or  less  importance — and  that  a  thing  essentially 
important,  must  always  be  indisputably  true.  Now,  again, 
I  conceive  we  shall  be  disposed  to  admit,  that  exactly  in 
proportion  to  the  indisputabihty  of  a  truth,  is  the  proof  it  is 
capable  of  affording;  and  that,  exactly  in  proportion  to 
the  proof  afforded,  is  our  admission  of  such  truth  and  be- 
lief in  it. 

If,  then,  rehgion  be  the  most  important  subject  of  human 
enquiry,  it  must  be  that  also,  which  presents  the  most 
forcible,  irrefragable,  and  indisputable  truths  to  the  en- 
quirer. It  must  be  that  on  which  the  human  mind  can 
err  the  least,  and  where  all  minds  must  be  the  most  agreed. 
If  rehgion  be  at  once  a  science,  and  the  most  true  of  all 
sciences,  its  truths  must  be  as  indisputable  as  those  in  any 
branch  of  the  mathematics — as  apparent  to  all  the  senses, 
as  those  revealed  by  the  chemist,  or  observed  by  the  natu- 
ralist, and  as  easily  referred  to  the  test  of  our  approving  or 
disapproving  sensations,  as  those  involved  in  the  science  of 
morals. 

To  ask  if  this  be  the  case,  might  seem  putting  a  ques- 
tion in  satire.  And  it  is  not  I  who  will  use  a  weapon  of 
ridicule,  where  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  my  fellow 


LECT.  IV.J  RELIGION.  9S 

creatures  are  concerned.  Against  designing  teachers  of 
error,  I  will  use  any  and  every  weapon  within  the  com- 
pass of  my  talents  and  acquirements  to  wield ;  and  against 
error  itself,  considered  apart  from  those  who  may  miscon- 
ceive of  its  nature,  the  same.  But  ill-fitted  were  I  for  the 
task  I  have  volunteered,  ill-fitted  to  assist  in  letting  down 
the  barrier  which  holds  back  the  many  from  the  courts  of 
knowledge — ill  fitted,  I  say,  were  I  to  address  the  popular 
mind,  if  I  could  idly  wound  the  popular  feeling ; — ill-fitted 
and  unworthy,  to  approach  the  tests  of  reason  and  experi- 
ence, to  human  practice  and  opinion,  if  I  should  treat  with 
levity  one  honest  error,  or  make  truth  a  cause  of  offence 
to  one  conscientious  bosom.  Far  be  such  consequences 
from  my  words,  as  they  are  from  my  heart,  while  we  weigh 
in  the  balance  that — must  we  call  it  science?  whose 
value  is  now  estimated  at  a  yearly  tax  of  twenty  miUions ! 

Must  we  call  it  science,  I  asked  ?  Is  rehgion  a  science  ? 
Is  it  a  branch  of  knowledge?  Where  are  the  things 
known  upon  which  it  rests  ?  Where  are  the  accumulated 
facts  of  which  it  is  compounded  ?  What  are  the  human 
sensations  to  which  it  appeals  ? 

I  request  your  undivided  attention  to  the  present  investi- 
gation. I  request  you  to  keep  m  view  what  we  have  as- 
certained all  knowledge  to  be,  and  how  we  have  observed 
all  knowledge  to  be  acquired.  Unless  these  simple  primary 
truths  be  ever  present  to  the  mind,  it  is  without  a  standard 
by  which  to  judge  any  fact  or  any  opinion  ;  and  reflection 
or  reasoning,  to  any  useful  purpose,  with  any  chance  of 
rational  results,  is  absolutely  impossible  to  it. 

Knowledge  then,  (my  hearers  will  forgive  the  reiteration,) 
is  compounded  of  things  known.  It  is  an  accumulation 
of  facts  gleaned  by  our  senses,  within  the  range  of  material 
existence,  which  is  subject  to  their  investigation.  As  I  ob- 
served on  a  former  occasion,  the  number  of  objects  com- 


96  RELIGION.  [lECT.  IV. 

prised  within  the  circle  of  human  observation  is  so  multi- 
plied, and  the  properties  or  qualities  of  these  objects  so 
diversified,  that,  with  a  view  to  convenient  and  suitable 
divisions  in  the  great  work  of  inspecting  the  whole,  and 
also  with  a  view  to  the  applying  more  order  and  method 
in  the  arrangement  of  the  facts  collated  in  the  wide  field 
of  nature,  they  have  been  placed  under  difTerent  heads, 
each  of  which  we  may  caU  a  branch  of  knowledge^  or, 
more  succinctly,  a  science.  Thus,  do  we  consider  the 
various  living  tribes  which  people  the  elements  ?  we  class 
our  observations  under  the  head  of  natural  history.  Do  we 
direct  our  attention  to  the  structure  and  internal  mechanism 
of  their  bodies  ?  we  designate  the  results  of  our  inspection 
under  the  heads  anatomy  and  physiology.  Do  we  trace 
the  order  of  occurrences  and  appearances  in  the  wide 
field  of  nature  ?  we  note  them  under  natural  philosophy. 
Do  we  analyze  substances,  and  search  out  their  simple 
elements?  chemistry.  Do  we  apply  ourselves  to  the 
measurement  of  bodies,  or  calculate  the  heights  and  dis- 
tances of  objects  ?  geometry.  And  so  on  through  all  the 
range  of  human  observation,  extending  from  the  relative 
position  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  accurate  calculation 
of  their  courses,  to  the  uses,  habits,  structure  and  physiology 
of  the  dehcate  plant  which  carpets  our  earth. 

It  may  be  here  suggested,  in  accordance  with  the  vague 
notions  still  current  respecting  the  nature  of  knowledge, 
that  there  is  yet  a  science,  which  rests  not  upon  the  evi- 
dence of  common  individual  sensations,  namely,  history, 
which  is  supplied  by  the  recorded  sensations  of  others. 

I  have  already  observed,  in  my  opening  discourses  upon 
knowledge,  that  history  is  not,  properly  speaking,  know- 
ledge^ only  prohahility.  This  probability  is  less  or  greater, 
according  to  the  proximity  or  remoteness  of  the  circum- 
Btances  it  relates  ;  according  to  the  style  of  the  narrator, 


LECT.   IV.]  RELIGION.  97 

the  accuracy  and  extent  of  the  knowledge  he  displays, 
the  consistency  of  his  statements  one  with  another,  and, 
above  all,  with  the  result  of  our  (the  reader's)  own  obser- 
vation and  experience.  Human  tradition,  written  or 
spoken,  is  only  history  so  long  as  it  relates  probabihties ; 
when  it  relates  improbabilities,  it  is  fable.  Even  the  his- 
tories best  authenticated  by  the  testimonies  of  concurring 
probabilities,  living  witnesses  or  surviving  monumental 
remains,  are  doubtless  filled  with  erroneous  statements ; 
and  the  judicious  reader,  in  admitting  the  general  outline, 
or  thread  of  the  relation,  is  well  aware  that  his  acquaintance 
with  the  whole  must  be  very  imperfect,  and  his  conceptions 
of  the  details  both  confused  and  mistaken. 

The  knowledge,  then,  suppHed  by  history,  is  not  posi- 
tive, but  only  relative.  It  carmot  be  admitted  as  know-^ 
ledge,  until  it  is  corroborated  by  all  the  knowledge  accu- 
mulated by  our  experience ;  and,  whenever  our  observa- 
tion of  the  phenomena  of  nature  refutes  the  assertions  of 
the  historian,  we  distinguish  the  latter  immediately  for 
erroneous.  History,  therefore,  can  only  testify  to  itself; 
that  is,  to  its  own  probability.  If  it  relate  circumstances 
in  accordance  with  the  nature  of  man,  and  the  nature  of 
things,  we  receive  it  as  credible ;  if  it  relate  circumstances 
in  violation  of  these,  we  discard  it  as  spurious.  We  may 
here  remark  as  a  consequent,  that  no  history  can  be  re- 
ceived in  testimony  of  any  occurrence  opposed  to  the 
established  course  of  natural  phenomena;  since  this  would 
be  to  receive  the  reported  or  traditionary  experience  of 
others  in  preference  to  our  ovm,  which,  in  the  case  of  a 
rational  being,  would  be  impossible. 

Now  let  us  see  where,  in  the  table  of  knowledge,  we 
may  class  religion.  Of  what  part  or  division  of  nature, 
or  material  existence,  does  it  treat  ?  What  bodies,  or  what 
properties  of  tangible  bodies,  does  it  place  in  contact  with 


98  RELIGION.  [lECT.  IV. 

our  senses,  and  bring  home  to  the  perception  of  our 
feculties. 

It  clearly  appertains  not  to  the  table  of  human  know- 
ledge, for  it  treats  not  of  objects  discoverable  within  the 
field  of  human  observation.  "No,"  will  you  say?  "but 
its  knowledge  is  superhuman,  unearthly — its  field  is  in 
heaven." 

My  fi-iends,  the  knowledge  which  is  not  human,  is  of 
sUppery  foundation  to  us  human  creatures.  Things 
known,  constitute  knowledge ;  and  here  is  a  science  treat- 
ing of  things  unseen,  unfelt,  incomprehended  !  Such  can- 
not be  knowledge.  What  then  is  it  ?  Probability  ?  pos- 
sibility? theory?  hypothesis?  tradition?  written?  spoken? 
by  whom  ?  when  ?  where  ?  Let  its  teachers — nay  !  let 
all  earth  reply  ! 

But  what  confiision  of  tongues  and  voices  now  strike  on 
the  ear ! 

From  either  Indies,  from  torrid  Africa,  fi*om  the  fi-ozen 
regions  of  either  pole,  firom  the  vast  plains  of  ancient 
Asia,  firom  the  fields  and  cities  of  European  industry, 
fi-om  the  palaces  of  European  luxury,  from  the  soft 
chambers  of  priestly  ease,  from  the  domes  of  hierarchal 
dominion,  from  the  deep  cell  of  the  self-immolated  monk, 
firom  the  stony  cave  of  the  self-denying  anchorite,  from 
the  cloud- capt  towers,  spires  and  minarets  of  the  crescent 
and  the  cross,  arise  shouts,  and  hosannas,  and  anathemas, 
in  the  commingled  names  of  Brama,  and  Veeshnu,  and 
Creeshna,  and  Juggernaut ;  heavenly  kings,  heavenly 
queens,  triune  deities,  earth-born  gods,  heaven-bom  pro- 
phets, apotheosized  monarchs,  demon  enhglitened  philoso- 
phers, saints,  angels,  devils,  ghosts,  apparitions,  and 
sorceries ! 

But,  worse  than  these  sounds  which  but  stun  the  ear 
and  confoimd  the  intellect,  what  sights,  oh  human  kind ! 


LECT.  IV.]  RELIGION.  99 

appal  the  heart !  The  rivers  of  earth  run  blood  !  Nation 
set  against  nation !  brother  against  brother  !  Man  against 
the  companion  of  his  bosom ;  and  that  soft  companion, 
maddened  with  the  frenzy  of  insane  remorse  for  imaginary- 
crimes,  fired  with  the  rage  of  infatuated  bigotry,  or  subdued 
to  diseased  helplessness  and  mental  fatuity,  renounces 
kindred,  flies  from  social  converse,  and  pines  away  a  useless 
or  mischievous  existence  in  sighings  andtrembhngs,  spectral 
fears,  uncharitable  feelings,  and  bitter  denunciations !  Such 
are  thy  doings,  oh  rehgion  !  Or,  rather,  such  are  thy 
doings,  oh  man !  While  standing  in  a  world  so  rich  in 
sources  of  enjoyment,  so  stored  with  objects  of  real  en- 
quiry and  attainable  knowledge,  yet  shutting  thine  eyes, 
and,  worse,  thy  heart,  to  the  tangible  things  and  sentient 
creatures  around  thee,  and  winging  thy  diseased  imagina- 
tion beyond  the  hght  of  the  sun  which  gladdens  thy 
world,  and  contemplation  of  the  objects  which  are  here  to 
expand  thy  mind  and  quicken  the  pulses  of  thy  heart ! 

"  But,"  say  the  teachers  of  that  which  is  not  know- 
ledge, which  may  not  be  called  a  science,  but  which  de- 
vours the  treasure  of  nations  and  maddens  the  intellects 
of  men,  "  that  which  we  teach,  unseen,  unknown,  unfelt 
by  others,  is  revealed  to  us ;  incomprehended  of  others,  is 
understood  by  us ;  unknown  to  others,  is  by  us  ascertained." 

Ha !  has  their  God  of  justice  children  of  preference  7 
Does  their  God  of  wisdom  open  worlds  to  the  observation 
of  a  few  especial  ministers,  who  have  not  senses  to  investi- 
gate the  objects  presented  to  them,  or,  at  the  least,  faculties 
to  describe  those  objects  intelligibly  to  others  ?  Does  their 
God  of  beneficence  reveal  his  nature  to  those  who  can 
neither  comprehend  nor  pourtray  it  ?  his  will,  to  creatures 
who,  in  expounding  it,  convulse  human  society  to  its 
centre?  Are  we  to  beUeve  this?  Oh,  my  fellow-beings! 
have  we  believed  this  so  long? 


100  RELIGION.  [lECT.  IV. 

Sisters  and  brothers  !  ye  more  especially  who,  knowing 
the  least  of  things,  believe  the  most  in  doctrines  ;  who, 
rocked  perhaps  in  the  cradle  by  fond  but  mistaken  mo- 
thers, closed  nightly  your  infant  eyes  to  troubled  sleep, 
upon  tales  of  wicked  angels,  and  tempting  devils ;  and 
opened  them,  to  shrink,  under  the  blessed  light  of  morning, 
from  the  imaginary  frown  of  a  revengeful  God — on  ye, 
more  especially,  do  I  call,  to  arouse  the  faculties  which 
superstition  may  have  benumbed  ;  and  to  put  the  question 
to  your  reason,  if  all  the  doctrines  of  the  servants  of  reli- 
gion are  not  inconsistent  with  their  own  assumed  first 
premises?  Could  a  Being  of  Wisdom  demand  of  ye  to 
spend  your  tune  and  torture  your  faculties  in  imagining 
things  which  ye  never  saw  ?  worlds  beyond  the  reach  of 
human  ken,  and  existences  of  whose  nature  ye  can  form 
no  conception  ?  Could  a  Being  of  Justice  command  ye  to 
prostrate  the  reason  he  should  have  given,  and  swear  cre- 
dence to  doctrines,  which  they  even  who  teach,  pretend 
not  to  understand  ?  Could  a  Being  of  Beneficence  visit  in 
anger  the  errors  of  the  children  of  his  hand,  and  delight 
in  the  torment  of  those  whose  ignorance  he  could  en- 
lighten, and  whose  sorrows  he  could  heal  ? 

Oh,  my  fellow-beings !  let  us  leave  these  inconsistencies 
to  those  who  teach  them  !  Let  us  leave  thmgs  unseen  and 
causes  unkno\vn,  to  those  who  vend  them  in  this  land  for 
twenty  millions  of  dollars ;  and,  in  other  lands,  less  free  and 
more  benighted  than  ours,  for  that  sum  twenty  times  told. 
Let  us  turn  from  that  which  is  not  knowledge,  to  all  which 
is  knowledge.  Let  us  leave  theory  for  fact;  the  world  of 
tlie  imagination  for  that  of  the  eye  ;  laws  graven  on  stones 
for  those  graven  on  the  heart !  Let  reason  be  our  guide, 
observation  our  teacher,  our  own  bosoms  our  judges  ! 

But,  alas !  ere  this  may  be  done,  our  reason  must  be  exer- 
cised, our  observation  awakened,  our  feeUngs  quickened, 


LECT.  IV.]  RELIGION.  101 

by  that  spirit  of  charity  and  brotherhood,  which  jarring 
creeds  have  through  ages  stifled,  and  which  just  know- 
ledge can  alone  impart ! 

It  has  been  my  object,  in  this,  as  in  my  previous  dis- 
courses, to  develope  with  you  the  nature  of  knowledge,  to 
substantiate  in  what  it  consists,  and  where  and  how  it 
may  be  found.  I  have  farther,  on  the  present  occasion, 
attempted  to  prove  that  you  are  now  engaged  in  the  pur- 
suit of  what  is  not  knowledge.  That  you  are  now  paying 
your  quota  of  the  twenty  millions  per  armum  towards  the 
support  of  a  system  of  error,  which,  from  the  earhest  date 
of  human  tradition,  has  filled  the  earth  with  crime  and 
deluged  its  bosom  wit]^  blood,  and  which,  at  this  hour,  fills 
your  country  with  discord,  and  impedes  its  progress  in 
virtue,  by  lengthening  the  term  of  its  ignorance. 

The  conclusions  I  am  desirous  should  be  drawn  from 
our  investigations  of  this  evening,  are  the  same  which  our 
judgments  must  draw  from  observation  of,  and  reflection 
upon,  the  events  passing  before  our  eyes  in  the  walks  of 
life.  How  do  these  events  exhibit  the  danger  of  looking 
out  of  our  own  nature  and  our  own  world  for  subjects  of 
enquiry  !  How  do  these  admonish  us  of  the  errors  of  our 
ways,  and  check  the  impotent  presumption  of  our  pervert- 
ed curiosity,  which,  aiming  at  things  beyond  our  vision 
and  so  beyond  our  comprehension,  neglects  the  fair  field 
of  nature  it  is  ours  to  admire;  the  human  duties  and 
charities  it  is  ours  to  fulfil ;  and  the  human  delights  it  is 
ours  to  administer  and  to  enjoy. 

I  will  pray  ye  to  observe  how  much  of  our  positive 
misery  originates  in  our  idle  speculations  in  matters  of 
fiatith,  and  in  our  blind,  our  fearful,  forgetfulness  of  facts — 
our  cold,  heartless,  and,  I  will  say,  msane  indifference  to 
visible  causes  of  tangible  evil,  and  visible  sources  of  tan- 
gible happiness  7  Look  to  the  walks  of  life  I  beseech  ye — 


RELIGION.  [lECT.  IV. 

iook  into  the  public  prints — ^look  into  your  sectarian 
churches — look  into  the  bosoms  of  families — ^look  into 
your  own  bosoms,  and  those  of  your  fellow-beings,  and 
see  how  many  of  our  disputes  and  dissentions,  public  and 
private — how  many  of  our  unjust  actions — how  many  of 
our  harsh  judgments — ^how  many  of  our  uncharitable 
feelings — spring  out  of  our  ignorant  ambition  to  rend  the 
vail  which  wraps  from  our  human  senses  the  knowledge 
of  things  unseen,  and  from  our  human  faculties  the  con- 
ceiption  of  causes  unknown  ?  And  oh,  my  fellow  beings  ! 
do  not  these  very  words  unseen  and  unknown^  warn  the 
enthusiast  against  the  profanity  of  such  enquiries,  and 
proclaim  to  the  philosopher  their  futility  ?  Do  they  not 
teach  us  that  religion  is  no  subject  for  instruction,  and  no 
subject  for  discussion?  Will  they  not  convince  us,  that  as 
beyond  the  horizon  of  our  observation,  we  can  know 
nothing,  so  within  that  horizon  is  the  only  safe  ground  for 
us  to  meet  in  pubUc? 

I  know  how  far  from  this  simple  conviction  we  now 
are.  Perhaps  at  this  very  moment,  the  question,  what 
does  she  believe^  is  uppermost  in  the  thoughts  of  two 
thirds  of  my  hearers.  Should  such  be  their  thoughts,  I 
will  reply  to  them. 

With  respect  to  myself,  my  efforts  have  been  strenuous- 
ly directed  to  ascertain  what  I  know,  to  understand  what 
can  be  known,  and  to  encrease  my  knowledge  as  far  as 
possible.  In  the  next  place,  I  have  endeavoured  to  com- 
municate my  knowledge  to  my  fellow  creatures ;  and  strict- 
ly laid  down  to  myself  the  lule,  never  to  speak  to  them  of 
that  of  which  I  have  not  knowledge.  If  beyond  the  horizon 
of  things  seen — without  the  range  of  our  earthly  planet, 
and  apart  from  the  nature  of  our  human  race,  any  specu- 
lations should  force  themselves  on  my  fancy,  I  keep  them 
to  myself,  even  as  I  do  the  dreams  of  my  nightly  sleep, 


LECT.  IV.J  RELIGION.  103 

well  satisfied  that  my  Deighbour  will  have  his  speculations 
and  his  dreams  also,  and  that  his,  whatever  they  may  be, 
will  not  coincide  precisely  with  mine. 

Satisfied  by  experience,  no  less  than  observation,  of  the 
advantage  to  be  derived  fi:om  this  rule  of  practice,  viz.  to 
communicate  with  others  only  respecting  my  knowledge, 
and  to  keep  to  myself  my  belief,  I  venture  to  recommend 
the  same  to  my  fellow  creatures  ;  and,  in  conformity  with 
this  rule,  would  urge  them,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  turn  their 
churches  into  halls  of  science,  and  exchange  their  teach- 
ers of  faith  for  expounders  of  nature.  Every  day  we  see 
sects  splitting,  creeds  new  modelling,  and  men  forsaking 
old  opinions  only  to  quarrel  about  their  opposites.  I  see 
three  Gods  in  one,  says  the  trinitarian,  and  excommuni- 
cates the  socinian  who  sees  a  godhead  in  unity.  I  see  a 
heaven  but  no  hell,  says  the  universalist,  and  disowns 
fellowship  with  such  as  may  distinguish  still  less.  "  I  see 
a  heaven,  and  a  hell  also,  beyond  the  stars,"  said  lately 
the  orthodox  friend,  and  expelled  his  shorter  sighted  bre- 
thren firom  the  sanctuary.  I  seek  them  both  in  the  heart 
of  man,  said  the  more  spiritual  follower  of  Penn,  and 
straightway  builded  him  up  another  temple,  in  which  to 
quarrel  with  his  neighbor,  who  perhaps  only  employs 
other  words  to  express  the  same  ideas.  For  myself,  pre- 
tending to  no  insight  into  these  mysteries,  possessing  no 
means  of  intercourse  with  the  inhabitants  of  other  woiids, 
confessing  my  absolute  incapacity  to  see  either  as  far  back 
as  a  first  cause,  or  as  far  forward  as  a  last  one,  I  am  con- 
tent to  state  to  you,  my  fellow  creatures,  that  all  my 
studies,  reading,  reflection,  and  observation,  have  obtained 
for  me  no  knowledge  beyond  the  sphere  of  our  planet,  our 
earthly  mterests,  and  our  earthly  duties  ;  and  that  I  more 
than  doubt,  whether,  should  you  expend  all  your  time  and 
all  your  treasure  in  the  search,  you  will  be  able  to  acquire 


liWl  RELIGION.  [lECT.  IV. 

any  better  information  respecting  unseen  worlds,  and 
future  events,  than  myself.  Whenever  you  shall  come  to 
the  same  conclusion,  you  will  probably  think  the  many 
spacious  edifices  which  rear  their  heads  in  your  city,  are 
somewhat  misapplied,  and  the  time  of  the  individuals  who 
minister  therein  somewhat  misemployed :  you  wiU  then 
doubtless  perceive  that  they  who  wish  to  muse,  or  pray, 
had  better  do  it  after  the  manner  designated  by  the  good 
Jesus,  namely,  by  entering  their  closet  and  shutting  the 
door  ;  and  farther  perceive,  that  the  true  bible  is  the  book 
of  nature,  the  wisest  teacher  he  who  most  plainly  ex- 
pounds it,  tlie  best  priest  our  own  conscience,  and  the 
most  orthodox  church  a  hall  of  science.  I  look  round 
doubtless  upon  men  of  many  faiths,  upon  calvinists, 
unitarians,  methodists,  baptists,  cathoHcs,  and  I  know 
not  what  beside,  and  yet,  my  friends,  let  us  call  ourselves 
by  what  names  we  will,  are  we  not  creatures  occupying 
the  same  earth,  and  sharing  the  same  nature  ?  and  can 
we  not  consider  these  as  members  of  one  family,  apart 
from  all  our  speculations  respecting  worlds,  and  existences, 
and  states  of  being,  for  which,  in  ages  past,  men  cut  each 
other's  throats,  and  for  which  they  now  murder  each 
other's  peace  ? 

And  now,  if  among  my  hearers  there  should  be  one, 
whose  opinions  I  have  too  rudely  jarred,  or,  worse,  whose 
feehngs  I  have  wounded,  more  deeply  than  he  will  I  la- 
ment the  offence,  and  lament  it  the  rather  because  of  its 
necessity.  Had  your  piiblic  teachers  employed  their 
twenty  milhons  in  shedding  peace  on  earth,  and  know- 
ledge among  men,  I  had  not  been  here  to  startle  the  flock 
nor  alarm  the  shepherd ;  I  had  not  stept  forth  from  the 
studies  and  retirement  which  I  love,  into  a  world  distract- 
.■♦  ed  with  dissension  and  profaned  with  vice ;  I  had  not  thus 
%         ventured,  and  thus  endured,  in  the  cause  of  human  reason, 


LECT.  IV.]  RELIGION.  106 

happiness,  and  tranquillity,  if  the  teacher  had  done  his 
duty,  and  the  people  had  grown  wise  under  his  tuition. 

At  our  next  meeting,  I  purpose  to  call  your  attention  to 
a  subject  of  vital  importance.  I  purpose  to  develope  with 
you  that  just  rule  of  life,  which  no  system  of  religion  ever 
taught,  or  can  ever  teach;  which  exists  apart  from  all 
faith,  all  creeds,  and  all  written  laws,  and  which  can  alone 
be  found  by  following,  with  an  open  eye,  a  ready  ear,  and 
a  willing  heart,  the  steps  of  knowledge ;  by  exercising  the 
senses,  faculties,  and  feelings,  which  appertain  to  our  na- 
ture ;  and,  instead  of  submitting  our  reason  to  the  autho- 
rity of  fallible  books  and  fallible  teachers,  by  bringing  al- 
ways the  words  of  all  books  and  all  teachers  to  the  test 
of  our  reason. 


L.ECTURE  V. 


MORALS. 

In  my  previous  discourses  I  have  chiefly  labored  to  sub- 
stantiate with  you  the  nature  of  knowledge.  The  impor- 
tance of  the  object  may  have  led  me  to  insist  even  to 
tediousness,  on  those  primary  truths  which,  once  percei- 
ving, the  mind  wonders  could  ever  be  unseen,  and  which, 
but  for  the  errors  inherent  in  our  education,  could  never 
fail  to  be  brought  by  the  opening  senses  to  the  opening 
mind.  But,  as  it  is,  our  instincts  supplanted,  stifled,  anni- 
hilated, instead  of  actively  exercised,  and  widely  guided  ; 
our  faculties  perverted,  tortured,  neglected  ;  the  most  use- 
ful cramped  or  misled ;  the  least  useful  unduly  forced,  pre- 
maturely exercised,  and  fed  from  a  wrong  source ;  our 
feeUngs  led  astray  from  the  first  moment  of  their  blossom- 
ing; the  canker  of  fear  blighting  their  freshness,  and 
visionary  thoughts  usurping  the  place  of  realities  :  nothing 
more  difiicult,  sometimes  more  hopeless,  than  to  awaken 
the  mind  to  a  perception  of  first  principles,  by  simply 
calling  on  the  eye  to  see,  the  ear  to  hear,  all  the  senses  to 
feel,  and  the  understanding  to  admit,  arrange,  compare 
the  facts  so  ascertained.  Aware  at  once,  both  of  the  neces- 
sity and  the  difficulty  of  clearing  the  simple  threshold  of 
knowledge  of  the  thorns  and  branches  heaped  on  it,  by 
imbridled  unaginations  ;  I  ever  hesitate  in  our  progress  to 
make  a  step  in  advance,  without  appealing  to  the  first 
simple  premises  which  we  have  so  labored  to  establish. 


LECT.  v.]  MORALS.  lOt 

At  our  last  meeting,  therefore,  we  carefully  recapitulated 
the  result  of  our  previous  observations,  respecting  the 
nature  and  the  Umits  of  the  field  of  human  enquiry ;  and, 
having  first  convinced  ourselves  of  what  real  knowledge 
consists,  we  proceeded  to  try,  by  the  test  thus  obtained,  the 
reality  of  a  subject  which  now  absorbs  the  leisure,  sways 
the  feelings,  and  engulfs  the  surplus  industry  of  mankind. 

The  result  of  these  investigations,  placed  religion  with- 
out the  field  of  knowledge.  Based  upon  assertion,  hypo- 
thesis, tradition,  we  found  it  wanting  in  substantiated  and 
ever  enduring  data  to  which  the  senses  of  eax^h.  individual 
might  appeal,  and  by  which  the  faculties  of  each  indi- 
vidual might  be  convinced.  We  remarked,  that  in  conse- 
quence, no  minds  were  agreed  upon  the  matter ;  that  while 
none  disputed  the  truths  of  real  science,  consisting  of 
things  known,  all  disputed  the  lessons  of  religion,  treating 
of  things  unknown,  and  things  imagined.  We  remarked 
farther,  that  what  is  unreal  in  its  nature,  vague  and  ever 
varying  in  its  lessons,  could  afford  no  safe  guide  to  human 
reason,  no  just  rule  to  hiunan  conduct ;  but  that,  on  the 
contrary,  all  the  experience  supplied  by  tradition  as  well 
as  by  the  observation  of  existing  generations,  combined  to 
attest,  that,  so  far  from  entrenching  human  conduct  within 
the  gentle  barriers  of  peace  and  love,  religion  has  ever  been, 
and  now  is,  the  deepest  source  of  contentions,  wars,  perse- 
cutions for  conscience  sake,  angry  words,  angry  feelings, 
backbijings,  slanders,  suspicions,  false  judgments,  evil  in- 
terpretations, unwise,  unjust,  injurious,  inconsistent  actions. 

But  shall  we  be  told  that  these  consequences  are  the 
result  of  false  religions.  Alas,  my  friends  !  and  who  has 
the  true  ?  Ask  the  Mahomedan,  the  Jew,  the  Pagan,  the 
deist,  the  christian,  in  all  his  multiform  varieties,  under  all 
his  multiphed  appellations — each  has  the  right,  all  others 
possess  the  wrong.  And  where,  among  these  contradictory 


ifli  MORAL*  [lECT.  V. 

and  confounding  faiths,  is  one  whose  ipse  dixit  truths  are 
compounded  of  facts;  whose  first  premises  are  demon- 
strable to  the  human  eye,  the  human  ear,  the  human 
touch ;  whose  proofs  are  sought  and  found  in  the  nature 
of  man  and  the  nature  of  things,  and  whose  conclusions 
are  sanctioned  by  our  own  confirming  sensations  and 
assenting  reason  ? 

No,  my  firiends !  we  have  seen  that  no  religion  stands 
on  the  basis  of  things  known  ;  none  bounds  its  horizon 
within  the  field  of  human  observation  ;  and,  therefore",  as 
it  can  never  present  us  with  indisputable  facts,  so  must  it 
ever  be  at  once  a  source  of  error  and  of  contention. 

If,  then,  that  which  we  have  followed  for  a  true  light, 
be  proved  a  meteor — if,  instead  of  leading  us  into  safe 
and  pleasant  paths,  it  have  enticed  us  into  swamps  and 
quagmires — if,  instead  of  informing  the  mind,  warming 
and  gladdening  the  heart,  it  have  clouded  and  confounded 
the  one,  chilled  and  bruised  the  other,  are  we  then  without 
a  guide  in  the  path  of  Ufe  ?  Are  our  barks  launched  upon 
the  ocean,  without  rudder  or  compass  ?  Is  there  no  star 
by  which  to  steer,  no  rule-directed  skill  wherewith  to  trim 
our  sails,  and  point  an  unerring  course  through  the  rocks 
and  whirlpools  of  our  passions  and  appetites,  and  the  fogs 
and  deceiving  mirage  of  our  deluding  and  deluded  imagi- 
nations ?  Wo  to  man,  should  the  answer  be  a  negative  ! 
Wo  to  our  race  should  we  be — T  say  not  without  a  rule, 
but  without  an  unerring  rule,  by  which  to  shape  our 
course  safely,  steadily,  usefully,  happily,  justly ;  by  which 
to  regulate  our  actions,  frame  our  opinions,  chasten  our 
feelings,  and  render  the  term  of  our  existence  one  of  utility 
and  dehght !  Were  not  this  rale  within  our  power  to  sub- 
stantiate, idle  were  every  other  human  enquiry  ;  idle  were 
every  fact  gathered  in  every  science;  yea,  idle  were  all 
human  researches  if  their  results  combined  not  to  aid  us 


LECT.  v.]  MORALS.  109 

in  the  establishing  of  that  golden  rule,  which  conducts  by- 
one  and  the  same  path  to  virtue  and  happiness  ! 

And  what  then  is  this  rule  ?  Where  in  the  field  of 
knowledge  must  we  seek  it  ?  Under  what  science  shall  we 
find  it  written  ?  In  casting  our  eye  over  the  table  of  just 
knowledge,  we  shall  find  the  rule  we  seek,  under  the 
head  of  "  morals" — it  being  the  science  of  human  ac- 
tions or  of  human  Hfe. 

In  earlier  ages,  however  removed  from  the  simple  view 
of  things  to  which  the  clearer  lights  of  physical  science 
are  now  leading  civilized  man,  we  perceive  him  always  to 
have  had  some  general  ideas  respecting  this  important 
branch  of  human  enquiry  ;  nor,  however  it  may  adminis- 
ter to  our  vanity  to  beheve  the  contrary,  might  we  find 
upon  minute  investigation,  that  we  have  greatly  advanced 
this  science  beyond  the  point  to  which  the  sages  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  or  of  Persia  and  China,  had  placed  it  before 
the  date  of  our  modern  era.  The  cause  of  this  remissness 
on  our  part,  T  conceive  to  be,  that  we  have  lost  sight,  even 
more  than  did  the  ancients,  of  the  true  basis  of  the  science, 
and  substituted  one  even  more  false  than  did  the  legislators 
of  Greece  or  the  patriots  of  Rome. 

The  usual  motive  principle  in  Athenian  ethics,  and  in- 
variably of  Spartan  and  Latin  virtue,  was  the  good  of 
country,  but  that  good  always  more  or  less  unwisely  inter- 
preted ;  mihtary  glory  the  means,  and  national  greatness, 
instead  of  national  happiness,  the  object.  Still,  if  in  some- 
thing, or  even  in  much,  mistaken,  the  morals  of  the 
ancients  was  a  soul-stirring  science,  encouraging  a  gene- 
rous, if  even  an  exaggerated  forgetfulness  of  self,  and 
calculated  to  form,  as  we  read  that  it  did  form,  command- 
ing nations,  and  self-respecting  men.  Among  the  Athe- 
nian schools,  indeed,  were  some  models  of  practical  virtue, 
and  teachers  of  moral  science,  whose  lessons  and  whose 

K 


110  MORALS.  [lECT.  V. 

lives  seem  to  have  equalled  all  that  we  can  show  in 
modern  generations  of  good  and  wise.  Such  appears  to 
have  been  the  modest  and  benevolent  Socrates :  such, 
more  especially,  appears  to  have  been  the  mild,  unpre- 
suming,  reasonable  Epicurus,  in  whose  ethics,  as  imper- 
fectly conveyed  to  us,  we  find  the  science  first  based  upon 
its  just  foundation — the  ascertained  consequences  of 
human  actions. 

The  moderns,  whether  we  look  to  the  numerous  family 
of  Christian  nations,  or  to  the  equally  numerous  family 
who  have  followed  the  standard  of  Mohammed,  have  un- 
fortunately based  their  morals  upon  their  religion,  or,  where 
that  was  impracticable,  have  so  mingled  the  truths  of  the 
science  with  the  dogmas  of  the  faith,  that,  while  the 
vulgar  mind  has  been  unable  to  conceive  of  them  as  sepa- 
rate, even  more  enlightened  minds,  yielding  to  the  force 
of  education,  have  found  it  difficult  not  to  conceive  of 
them  as  related.  The  more  effectually  to  detect  the  error 
of  this  persuasion,  let  us  examine  first  what  we  under- 
stand by  the  term  morals,  and  then  what  we  understand 
by  that  of  religion.  First,  then,  what  is  the  meaning 
attached  to  the  word  morals.  It  is  a  word  often  in  our 
mouths,  and  the  first  step  towards  acquiring  a  knowledge 
of  any  science,  is  to  possess  an  accurate  idea  of  the  subject 
of  which  it  treats,  or  of  the  meaning  of  the  term  employed 
for  its  designation. 

What  then  is  morals  ? 

A  rule  of  life. 

How  formed  ?  from  what  deduced  ? 

From  the  consequences  of  actions  as  ascertained  through 
our  sensations,  and  our  observations  of  the  sensations  of 
others. 

Actions  which  produce  good,  we  call  moral  actions ;  ac- 
tions which  produce  evil,  immoral  actions.    Revolve  the 


LECT.  v.]  MORALS.  Ill 

matter  as  we  may,  we  can  come  to  no  other  rational  con- 
clusion. The  word  morals,  then,  is  employed  to  desig- 
nate 3-  :ourse  of  actions,  whose  effects  are  beneficial  to 
ourselves  and  others.  In  other  words,  they  constitute  a 
rule  of  hfe  drawn  from  the  ascertained  consequences  of 
actions.  The  rule  is  simple.  If  we  never  look  out  of  it,  we 
can  never  go  wrong  in  morals. 

Let  us  now  enquire  what  is  religion  ?  We  have  seen 
what  religion  is  not.  Our  present  object  will  be  to  ascer- 
tain what  it  isj  and  thus  to  estabhsh  a  correct  definition  of 
the  word  applicable  to  it,  by  whatever  rehgious  sect,  in 
whatever  country,  employed. 

Were  each  individual  in  this  assembly  to  answer  the 
question  in  turn,  I  am  somewhat  doubtful  if  there  would 
be  two  who  would  agree  in  their  repUes.  Some  would 
place  religion  in  the  intellectual  admission  of  certain  dog- 
mas ;  others,  in  that  of  dogmas  directly  opposed  to  the  first 
enumerated.  Others  would  see  it  in  the  observation  of 
certain  days,  fasts,  and  festivals ;  some  in  certain  prayers 
offered  up  in  certain  places ;  others  in  songs  and  hymns, 
or  in  meditations,  and  visions,  and  ablutions,  and  all  man- 
ner of  ceremonies.  There  are  doubtless  some  present, 
who  would  say  all  external  rules  and  abstract  creeds  are 
of  no  importance  ;  and  who  would  direct  us  to  see  religion 
in  the  just  actions  of  men. 

I  wish  you  here  to  observe,  that  such  religionists  as  the 
last  mentioned,  are  in  fact  no  religio7iists  at  all ;  they  are 
only  good  men.  Either  religion  is  something  distinct 
from  morals,  or  it  is  the  same  thing.  If  it  be  distinct,  what 
is  it  ?  I  beUeve  there  is  one  definition  which  will  embrace 
all  religions,  firom  the  Laplander's  to  the  Hottentot's  ;  from 
those  of  this  city,  round  the  world,  until  we  land  here  again 
in  the  same. 

Religion,  as  distinguished  firom  morals,  may  be  defined 


113  MORALS.  [lECT.  V. 

thus :  a  belief  irtj  and  homage  rendered  to,  existences 
utiseen  and  causes  unknow?i.  This  definition  vnll  ap- 
ply equally  to  the  Hindoo,  Mahomedan,  Jew,  Christian, 
pagan,  theist,  and  every  variety  of  religionist  existing  or 
imaginable.  Of  rehgion,  as  used  to  express  a  just  prac- 
ticey  nothing  can  be  said,  but  that  it  is  a  misappUcation  of 
terms.  If  rehgion  mean  good  morals,  let  us  call  it  good 
morals,  that  we  may  understand  each  other.  I  had  occasion, 
during  the  course  of  our  preliminary  investigations  on 
knowledge,  to  insist  much  on  the  importance  of  accurate 
language.     Without  it  there  can  be  no  accurate  ideas. 

We  perceive  then  that  rehgion  and  morals  are  words 
bearing  distinct  significations.  The  one  implies  a  mode 
of  beUef ;  the  other  a  just  mode  of  practice.  These  may 
indeed  be  occasionally  conjoined,  but  there  is  no  necessary 
relation  between  them ;  and  I  must  request  you  to  observe, 
that  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  for  them  to  be  placed  in  con- 
tact, without  the  one,  more  or  less,  neutrahzing  the  other.  A 
necessary  consequent  of  rehgious  behef  is  the  attachmg 
ideas  of  merit  to  that  beUef,  and  of  demerit  to  its  absence. 
Now  here  is  a  departure  from  the  first  principle  of  true 
ethics.  Here  we  find  ideas  of  moral  wrong  and  moral 
right  associated  with  something  else  than  beneficial  action. 
The  consequence  is,  we  lose  sight  of  the  real  basis  of  mo- 
rals, and  substitute  a  false  one.  Our  rehgious  behef  usurps 
the  place  of  our  sensations,  our  imaginations  of  our  judg- 
ment. We  no  longer  observe  effects  ;  we  lay  down  laws. 
We  no  longer  look  to  actions,  trace  their  consequences,  and 
then  deduce  the  rule  ;  we  first  make  the  rule,  and  then, 
right  or  wrong,  force  the  action  to  square  with  it. 

But,  methinks,  I  hear  you  observe — ^that  Rehgion,  if  not 
the  source,  may  be  at  Least  the  coadjutor  of  virtue ;  if  not 
the  parent,  she  may  be  at  least  the  companion.  Far  be  it 
from  me  to  say  that  such  may  not  be — that  such  never 


LECT.  v.]  MORALS.  113 

is.  I  have  crossed  in  the  path  of  life  some  lovely  minds 
and  lovely  hearts,  of  which  no  harsh  and  narrow  creed 
could  mar  the  beauty  ;  and  which  could  enfold  in  their 
own  gentleness,  and  expand  with  their  own  warmth,  the 
chiUing  and  censorious  faith,  which  drove  less  kindly 
natures  to  angry  uncharitableness  or  morose  fanaticism. 

Rehgion  I  have  observed  to  take  its  complexion  from 
that  of  the  bosom  which  harbours  it.  Where  the  disposi- 
tion is  gentle,  its  inmate  will  soften  her  temper,  modify 
her  doctrines,  and  sink  to  whispers  the  thunder  of  her  de- 
nunciations. Where  the  character  has  more  vigor,  and 
firnmess  of  purpose  and  ardent  imagination  unite  with 
scrupulous  conscientiousness,  we  find  the  ardent  zealot 
and  sincere  fanatic  ready  to  sacrifice  life,  friends,  country, 
aye,  and  the  whole  human  race  on  the  altar  of  his  idolatry, 
and  to  make  his  existence  one  long  scene  of  denial  to 
himself,  and  of  infliction  upon  others.  On  such  tempera- 
ments as  the  last  adverted  to,  we  perceive  the  most  fatal  ef- 
fects of  religion  on  the  moral  character  of  the  man.  Such 
as  we  have  here  depicted,  should  be  the  enlightened  bene- 
factors of  their  race  ;  the  leaders  of  improvement,  the  firm 
defenders  and  fearless  advocates  of  truth.  Such  would 
they  be  if  led  by  wise  guides  into  the  field  of  real  know- 
ledge, and  there  taught  by  observation  and  experience,  to 
base  their  opinions  upon  ascertained  facts,  and  to  seek  in 
their  own  unsophisticated  sensations,  the  rules  of  tempe- 
rance, justice,  toleration,  and  humanity.  But  led  by  error 
into  the  stony  ground  of  rehgious  faith,  all  the  qualities  of 
their  noble  nature  are  perverted  to  evil.  Their  eye  no' 
longer  fixed  on  this  world,  nor  their  hearts  on  their  fellow 
creatures,  they  are  transformed  into  the  enemies  of  true 
science,  the  scourgers  of  society,  the  persecutors  of  reason 
and  of  sane  morality.  It  may  be,  as  we  have  observed^' 
that  religion  will  borrow  the  fair  robes  of  virtue,  and  speak 
k2  15 


114  MORALS.  [lECT.  V. 

in  the  tones  of  love  caught  from  lovely  hearts,  but  never 
did  she  herself  originate,  however  she  may  sometimes  per- 
vert to  her  own  purposes,  that  human  sympathy  with  hu- 
man weakness,  that  gentle  patience  with  human  error,  that 
untiring  perseverance  in  the  cause  of  human  improve- 
ment, which  the  study  of  human  nature,  and  acquaint- 
ance with  the  reforming,  enlightening  power  of  human 
knowledge,  impart  to  the  reflecting  observer  of  the  world 
without  and  of  the  world  within. 

Let  us  not  mistake  causes  !  Let  us  not  misconceive  of  ef- 
fects !  Let  us  not  so  wrong  the  heart  of  man,  as  when  we 
see  the  turbanned  follower  of  Mohammed,  invoking  Allah, 
while  he  spreads  the  carpet  for  the  weary  traveller,  and 
shares  with  him  his  bread — ^let  us  not,  I  say,  so  wrong  tlie 
human  heart,  as  to  believe,  that  but  for  the  written  law  of 
his  Koran  he  would  shut  his  door  against  the  houseless,  the 
friendless,  and  the  hungry  ;  or  that  when  he  opens  it,  he 
obeys  not  a  law  nobler  and  purer  than  that  cried  by  his  priest 
from  the  minaret — even  that  which  is  entwined  and  incor- 
porated with  his  being,  and  which  teaches  him  to  pity  in 
others  the  wants  which  he  feels  within  himself !  The  sim- 
ple African,  whose  desires  are  bounded  by  his  grove  of  co- 
coa nuts  and  bread  fruits,  and  whose  superstitions  extend 
not  beyond  the  charms  and  whimsical  ceremonies  of  nur- 
ses and  conjurors  over  the  bodies  of  the  sick,  yields  his  mat, 
and  shares  his  fruits  with  the  fainting  white  man  whom 
the  love  of  science,  or  the  madness  of  superstition,  leads  to 
his  peaceful  hut ;  and,  unlearned  in  all  of  truth  as  of  er- 
ror, beyond  what  his  simple  experience  has  taught  him, 
binds  up  the  wounds  of  the  suffering  stranger,  and  lulls 
him  to  sleep  with  his  pitying  songs.  Or,  who  that  has  vi- 
sited the  native  sons  of  America's  forest,  where  the  vices 
of  civilized  and  christian  nations  are  yet  unknown,  but 
has  eat  of  the  venison  prepared  by  the  gentle  squaw,  where 


LECT.  v.]  MORALS,  111 

there  was  no  priest  to  bless,  or  written  law  to  teach  ;  and 
farther  seen  the  son  of  nature  lay  him  down  to  his  last 
sleep  with  the  dignity  of  a  mind  which  had  followed  virtue 
up  to  its  knowledge,  and  knew  as  Uttle  to  fear  possibilities 
beyond  the  grave,  as  reahties  here. 

And  must  we  be  told  that  unnerving  fears  and  disgracing 
penalties  are  requisite  to  drive  man  into  the  path  of  vir- 
tue ?  Must  he  be  made  a  coward  ere  he  can  be  innocent  7 
Must  he  be  sold  to  folly  ere  he  can  be  saved  from  crime  ? 
Little  have  such  moralists  studied  the  latent  powers  in- 
herent in  our  nature — ^the  beautiful  faculties  and  emotions 
which  need  but  to  be  awakened  and  exercised,  for  us  to 
distinguish  good  from  evil,  even  as  we  distinguish  pleasure 
from  pain  !  Little  know  they  of  the  satisfaction  imparted 
to  the  bosom  by  a  course  of  gentle  feeling  and  generous 
action  ;  little  conceive  they  of  the  pain  and  disquiet  conse- 
quent on  feehngs  of  uncharitableness  and  deeds  of  vio- 
lence, who  imagine  temptations  of  heavenly  rewards  requi- 
site to  incline  the  well  taught  mind  to  the  one,  or  threats 
of  ugly  fiends,  and  phantoms,  and  torments,  first  conceived 
and  accurately  realized  in  the  earthly  dungeons  of  Christian 
inquisitors,  necessary  to  turn  the  humanheartfirom  theother. 

Alas,  my  friends  !  we  have  tampered  with  imaginary 
demons  through  all  the  ages  of  human  ignorance  up  to  the 
present  hour — we  have  quailed  the  human  heart  with 
fear — we  have  shaken  reason  from  her  throne  with  the 
agues  of  superstition — we  have  broken  dowTi  the  self-re- 
specting spirit  of  man  with  nursery  tales  and  priestly 
threats,  and  we  dare  to  assert,  that  in  proportion  as  we 
have  prostrated  our  understandmg  and  degraded  our 
nature,  we  have  exhibited  virtue,  wisdom,  and  happiness, 
in  our  words,  our  actions,  and  our  lives  ! 

Time  it  is,  that  we  awake  to  a  better  knowledge  of 
things — a  more  just  appreciation  of  our  own  powers  and 


116  MORALS.  [lECT.  V. 

capabilities,  a  more  accurate  observation  of  consequences 
and  causes,  and  that  we  fit  ourselves  wisely  to  enjoy  the 
life  which  is  ours,  and  wisely  to  instruct  the  rising  genera- 
tion to  avoid  the  errors  which  have  led  our  minds  astray, 
and  to  seek  the  truths  which  we  have  neglected. 

Conceiving  us,  my  friends,  to  have  sufficiently  discuss- 
ed the  tendency  of  those  doctrines  and  assertions  which 
were  never  made  to  stand  an  encounter  with  reason,  we 
will  now  recal  our  attention  to  the  consideration  of  the 
science  which  is  to  supply  the  unerring  rule  of  human 
conduct. 

Morals  we  defined  to  be  a  rule  of  life  drawn  from  the 
ascertained  consequences  of  human  actions.  You  will 
observe  that  here,  as  in  every  other  breufich  of  knowledge, 
our  own  sensations,  accurately  observed,  supply  us  with  the 
facts  of  which  the  science  is  compounded. 

Morals,  thus  considered,  is  a  wide  and  spacious  field ;  as 
spacious  as  human  hfe  and  human  action.  There  is  a 
wrong  and  a  right  way  of  doing  every  thing  ;  a  wrong 
and  a  right  way  of  feeling  every  thing  ;  a  wrong  and  a  right 
way  of  saying  every  thing.  We  are  therefore  moral  or  im- 
moral at  every  moment  of  our  conscious  existence. 

What  is  required  for  the  securing  of  our  moral  rather 
than  our  immoral  state  ?  Attention.  Attention  to  the  con- 
sequences of  our  actions  ;  attention  to  the  nature  of  our 
feelings ;  attention  to  the  meaning,  and  the  bearing,  and 
the  effects  of  our  words.  Look  to  these  !  Look  around  ye ! 
Look  within  !  Ye  need  no  other  rule  ;  ye  need  no  other 
law.  Would  ye  ascertain  what  of  your  rules  are  just? 
Put  them  to  this  test.  Examine  where  they  run  ;  what 
they  hit,  and  what  they  miss.  Trace  them  through  all 
their  consequences,  to  all  their  results.  Believe  not  they 
aie  right  because  they  are  your  rules,  but  test  them  by 


LECT.  v.]  MORi^LS.  IIT 

the  actions  they  produce,  and  these  actions  again  by  the 
simple  good  or  evil  of  their  results. 

Permit  me  here  to  recapitulate  a  few  observations  pre- 
sented at  our  last  meeting.  We  then  remarked,  that  had 
we  only  senses,  each  impression  would  disappear  with  the 
object  which  excited  it;  in  which  case,  no  knowledge,  or 
accumulation  of  facts,  could  exist  for  us.  But,  having 
memory,  we  can  retain  each  impression  by  whichsoever 
of  our  senses  received ;  having  judgment,  we  compare  and 
arrange  these  impressions ;  having  imagination,  we  in- 
geniously combine  impressions,  however  removed  as  to 
time,  distant  as  to  place,  or  slightly  assimilated  by  affinity 
or  resemblance  ;  and,  having  moral  feelings  or  emotions, 
we  consider  all  occurrences  with  a  reference  to  the  good  or 
evil  they  may  induce  to  our  race. 

In  that  most  important  branch  of  knowledge  which  we 
are  now  considering,  all  these  properties  of  our  nature  are 
called  into  action.  Our  sensations  supply  the  facts  which 
our  faculties  treasure  up  and  arrange;  and,  aided  by  our 
emotions,  enable  us  to  judge  and  to  feel  for  others :  out  of 
which  sympathy  springs  all  the  bright  family  of.  the 
virtues. 

In  considering  the  science  of  morals,  it  might  seem,  at 
the  first  glance,  to  divide  itself  into  two  distinct  heads :  as 
our  conduct  affects  ourselves,  and  as  it  affects  others.  This 
distinction,  however,  is  more  apparent  than  real,  since  it  is 
barely  possible  for  us  to  consider  any  action,  much  less  any 
course  of  actions,  without  a  reference  to  their  effects,  either 
immediate  or  more  remote,  by  example,  on  the  sentient  be- 
ings around  us ;  which  effects  must  ever  again  react  upon 
ourselves,  and  influence,  pleasurably  or  painfully,  our  state 
of  being.  Still  are  there  some  actions  involving  more  pecu- 
liarly our  own  selfish  interests  ;  and  upon  which,  in  cases 
where  no  counter  interest  of  others  is  presented,  prudence, 


If 


118  MOEALS.  [lECT.  V. 

or  a  just  calculation  of  consequences  to  ourselves,  may  be 
allowed  solely  to  decide.  Such  are  the  actions  incidental 
to  the  gratification  of  the  appetites  appertaining  to  our 
nature.  The  rules  by  which  to  restrain  these  within  just 
and  healthy  propriety  are  peculiarly  simple ;  and,  when 
carefully  substantiated  by  observation,  and  habitually  fol- 
lowed, supply  us  with  the  virtues  of  temperance  and  so- 
briety. Were  the  habit  induced  from  infancy  upwards,  of 
closely  observing  all  our  sensations,  and  distinguishing  the 
moment  when  healthy  indulgence  passes  into  unhealthy 
excess,  there  would  not  be  (except  in  cases  of  defective 
organization)  one  being  in  existence  afflicted  with  those 
unreasoned,  self-tormenting  habits,  which  are  now,  in 
vulgar  parlance,  more  especially  distinguished  by  the  name 
of  vices. 

But  let  us  here  observe,  that  to  secure  for  ourselves  that 
€eemly  propriety  which  constitutes  the  rule  of  temperance, 
we  must  as  httle  incline  to  the  extreme  of  fanatical  self- 
denial  as  to  that  of  indulgence.  We  must  govern  and 
not  crucify  the  appetites  wliich,  forming  a  part  of  our 
being,  can  as  Uttle  be  stifled  as  palled,  without  injury  to 
our  physical,  moral,  and  mental  health.  It  has  been  the 
requiiing  the  annihilation  instead  of  the  just  government  of 
the  human  passions,  which  has  nourished  the  behef,  so 
slanderous  to  our  nature,  that  they  were  beyond  the  con- 
trol of  our  resison.  Oh !  let  but  reason  be  appealed  to, 
and  we  shall  acknowledge,  for  we  shall  see  and  feel  her 
power ! 

In  the  day  that  reason  shall  be  consulted,  we  shall 
study  ourselves  with  a  reference  to  the  world  about  us, 
and  that  world  again  with  a  reference  to  ourselves  ;  and, 
applying  all  external  things  wisely  to  their  uses,  apply 
also  all  our  organs,  physical  and  intellectual,  wisely  to 
tlieirs.     Then  may  we  find  that  the  error  hes  not  in  our 


LECT.  v.]  MORALS.  119 

nature,  but  in  the  false  usages,  opinions,  laws,  habits,  and 
customs,  which  have  originated  in  our  ignorance  and  in 
the  superstitions  which  that  ignorance  has  engendered. 

In  considering  our  conduct  with  relation  to  the  world, 
without  us,  we  find  the  science  under  our  immediate  re- 
view associated  with  every  other  ;  extending  its  ramifica- 
tions through  the  whole  field  of  knowledge,  turning  to 
profit  every  fact  drawn  from  the  rich  stores  of  nature,  and 
calming  and  expanding  the  human  heart  in  proportion  as 
the  human  mind  becomes  enlightened. 

The  sciences  have  ever  been  the  surest  guides  to  virtue, 
because,  demanding  calm  observation,  obtaining  all  their 
results  by  means  of  dispassionate  investigation,  they  bring 
into  action  our  noblest  faculty,  the  judgment,  and  submit 
the  imagination  to  its  guidance;  dispose  us  by  the  previous 
accurate  observation  of  things  to  an  equally  accurate  ob- 
servation of  men,  and,  confirming  us  in  the  habit  of 
tracing  effects  to  causes  in  the  world  without,  prepare  us 
to  follow  attentively  the  train  of  occurrences  in  the  world 
within. 

In  seeking  that  principle  of  our  nature  which  leads  the 
heart  of  m^n  to  sympathise  with  that  of  his  fellow  ;  to 
extend  the  hand  in  succor,  or  to  drop  the  tear  in  sym- 
pathy, philosophers  have  strangely  disputed.  But,  without 
adverting  to  the  various  arguments  and  speculations  which 
have  more  frequently  tended  to  confuse  the  intellect  than 
to  develope  the  fact,  we  may  remark,  that  the  many  who 
have  agreed  in  referring  all  our  noblest  actions  and  most 
beautiful  feelings  to  the  single  desire  of  attaining  our  own 
individual  good,  present,  at  the  least,  an  immutable  basis 
of  morals ;  since  even  self-love  and  self-interest,  rightly 
understood,  would  always  lead  to  justice,  beneficence,  gen- 
tleness, truth,  candor,  and  indulgent  toleration.  And  such 
doubtless  is  the  truth.     A  simple  but  accurate  calculation 


120  MORALS.  [lECT.  V. 

of  selfish  consequences,  would  lead  invariably  to  the  culti- 
vation of  every  amiable  feeling,  and  practice  of  every 
action  beneficial  to  society.  For,  as  we  have  previously 
enquired,  how  come  we  at  a  knowledge  of  virtue?  By  our 
sensations.  What  constitutes  moral  good  ?  A  course  of 
actions  producing  beneficial  results.  What  moral  evil? 
A  course  of  actions  whose  results  are  injurious.  Now  most 
true  it  is,  as  I  trust  the  experience  of  each  and  all  of  us 
can  testify,  that  never  does  the  human  breast  throb  with 
purer  dehght,  than  when  man  has  been  instrumental  to 
the  happiness  of  his  fellow  man.  The  pleasure  derived 
from  any  selfish  enjoyment  dies  with  the  immediate  sen- 
sation ;  but  that  shared  with  others,  or  that  imparted  to 
others,  even  with  temporary  loss  or  inconvenience  to  our- 
selves, will  five  in  the  memory  to  the  latest  period  of  ex- 
istence, and  thrill  the  bosom  with  pleasure  each  time  it  is 
recalled.  Certain  it  is,  therefore,  that  the  pursuit  of  our 
own  happiness  would  alone  suffice  to  induce  the  cultivation 
of  that  tone  of  thinking  and  feeling,  which  tends  to  pro- 
mote that  happiness.  But  we  have  still  something  within 
us,  better  than  any  process  of  reasoning,  which  prompts 
us  to  spring  forward  to  the  relief  of  suffering ;  and  which 
we  have  only  to  cultivate,  in  conjunction  always  with  the 
cultivation  of  our  judgment,  (or  we  may  sadly  err)  to  be- 
come the  active  and  enlightened  friends  of  our  race.  When, 
having  distinguished  beneficial  from  injurious  actions,  in 
the  consequences  resulting  to  ourselves,  and  observed  simi- 
lar effects  to  result  from  similar  actions  to  others,  we  dis- 
tinguish an  emotion  within  us,  varying  indeed  in  strength 
in  each  individual,  which  prompts  to  the  conferring  of 
benefits  to  our  brother  man,  and  even,  occasionally,  to  the 
preferring  of  his  advantage  to  our  own.  In  this  preference 
of  others  to  self,  or,  to  put  it  according  to  the  views  of  the 
moralists  before  quoted,  in  this  seeking  of  our  own  plea- 


LECT.  v.]  MORALS-  |2t 

sure  through  the  pleasure  of  others^  consists  the  highest 
degree  of  active  virtue. 

Great  is  the  difference  between  what  I  have  here  c(e» 
nominated  active  virtue^  and  what  we  may  call  negative 
virtue — albeit,  in  the  present  unfortunate  state  of  society,  we 
are  often  but  too  happy  when  we  find  the  latter,  and  have 
not  to  encounter  active  mischief. 

By  the  negatively  virtuous,  I  understand  those  who,  r^ 
gulating  judiciously  their  passions  and  appetites  with  a 
view  to  their  own  healthy  existence,  and  forbearing  from 
all  words  and  actions  which  might  disturb  their  tranquillity 
by  attracting  the  hostility  of  others,  yet  are  deficient  in 
that  generous  sensibility  to  the  feelings  of  others,  which 
we  have  distinguished  as  the  source  of  active  virtue; 
and  which  dictates  the  ready  sacrifice  of  selfish  enjoyment, 
whenever  such  sacrifice  will  purchase  a  greater  enjoyment 
to  a  fellow  creature,  or  stimulates  to  voluntary  exertions  in 
favor  of  suffering,  or  in  the  cause  of  human  improvement. 

This  cultivated  sensibility,  variously  called  by  philoso- 
phers the  moral  principle,  emotion,  faculty,  or  sympathy,  and 
in  the  figurative  language  of  Friends,  the  light  within^ 
the  spirit  of  truths  or  God  within  the  breast^  may,  I  think, 
be  distinguished  by  every  self  observer,  as  existing  apart 
from  the  purely  intellectual  powers,  though  always  de- 
manding their  guidance.  When  not  under  the  guidance 
of  our  noblest  intellectual  faculty,  the  judgment,  it  may 
place  ourselves,  and  involve  others,  in  the  worst  difi[icul- 
ties ;  when  under  the  direction  of  a  well-balanced  and 
discriminating  intellect,  it  leads  to  every  good,  and  consti- 
tutes a  man  of  virtue. 

Now  the  object  of  all  education  should  be,  the  active 

developement  and  cultivation  of  the  generous  emotion  we 

are  now  considering,  and  which  is  but  too  often  allowed  to 

remain  dormant  in  the  bosom,  until  it  is  absolutely  choked 

L  16 


128  MORALS.  [lECT.  V. 

and  annihilated  by  vicious  examples  and  equally  vicious 
lessons.  First  comes  false  parental  indulgence,  teaching 
the  young  creature  to  seek  its  little  pleasures  at  expense  of 
the  comfort  and  convenience  of  others,  by  passionate  cries 
and  obstinate  peevishness ;  to  seek  them,  too,  without  a 
reference  to  its  companions  and  playmates,  if  not  often  at 
their  cost.  Next  comes  erroneous  instruction,  to  frighten 
the  opening  mind  from  innocent  truth,  to  unfit  it  for  ob- 
servation of  the  interesting  reaUties  around  it,  and  to  poison 
the  sweet  pleasures  of  its  age,  by  tales  of  unseen  things 
and  revengeful  beings — ^these  also  armed,  like  their  earthly 
governors,  with  whips  and  scourges.  Then  comes  woildly 
policy,  with  selfishness,  censoriousness,  and  avarice,  in  her 
train,  to  perfect  an  education  whose  motive  principle  is 
FEAR,  and  whose  fmits  are  hard-heartedness  and  hypocrisy  I 

What,  my  friends  !  and  do  we  charge  to  our  orga- 
nization what  springs  from  our  ignorance  of  its  powers ! 
Do  we  libel  the  nature  of  man,  while  we  are  violating 
instead  of  guiding  its  instincts,  perverting  its  faculties, 
and  feeding  it  with  error  instead  of  truth  ?  That 
wliich  we  sow,  must  we  reap.  The  infant  mind  is  a 
virgin  soil.  While  we  plant  tares,  shall  we  gather  tares. 
While,  in  pursuit  of  things  unseen  and  causes  unknown, 
we  waste  our  surplus  time  and  our  surplus  industry,  and 
while  we  neglect  or  pervert  the  powers  of  the  human 
mind,  must  idleness  and  error,  with  their  offspring,  violence 
and  profligacy,  distract  and  aflflict  all  the  nations  of  the  earth ! 

But  let  us  adopt  measures  for  wisely  developing  and 
directing  the  faculties  which  distinguish  our  nature.  Let 
us  seek  out  patient  and  enlightened  guides,  instead  of  angry 
and  dogmatical  teachers,  who  will  encourage  the  lively 
observation  of  childhood,  foster  its  better  feelings,  remove 
from  its  eye,  and  its  ear,  and  its  imagination,  all  that  can 
ftwaken  unkindly  emotions,  impart  painful  sensations, 


LECT.  v.]  MORALS.  123 

provoke  angry  passions,  suggest  false  ideas,  and  judiciously 
surround  it  with  such  impressions  as  shall  turn  aU  its 
faculties  to  good. 

To  prepare  such  a  system  of  education  for  the  young, 
we  must  begin  with  ourselves.  We  must  purge  our  own 
hearts  of  evil,  and  our  own  minds  of  error,  ere  we  can  dis- 
tinguish those  just  rules  of  conduct,  which,  as  parents,  as 
citizens,  as  human  beings,  it  is  our  common  duty  and 
common  interest  to  discover  for  the  rising  generation. 

In  this  imperfect  discourse,  I  have  but  sketched  the  out- 
hne  and  laid  down  the  first  principles  of  that  beautiful 
science,  of  which  all  others  should  be  but  the  handmaidens, 
to  which  the  whole  field  of  knowledge  should  lend  its  ac- 
cumulated facts,  and  a  succession  of  enlightened  genera- 
tions supply  their  accumulated  experience. 

My  object  here,  as  in  all  our  previous  investigations,  has 
been  to  elucidate  the  simple  nature  of  the  science.  To 
show  that  its  truths  are  discoverable  by  observation,  and 
supplied  by  our  sensations  ;  that  all  lessons  which  depart 
firom  the  premises  of  our  sensations,  are  but  idle  decla- 
mation ;  that  the  seeds  of  all  excellence  are  within  our- 
selves— that  is,  in  the  senses  and  the  faculties  which  en- 
lighten and  adorn  our  nature  ;  that  the  source  of  all  vice 
is  ignorance,  and  that  of  virtue,  knowledge ;  that  the  field 
of  human  enquiry  is  the  world  we  inhabit ;  the  field  of 
human  duty  that  of  human  action ;  the  only  rational  pur- 
suit of  human  beings  that  of  human  happiness ;  that  hap- 
piness, to  be  experienced  by  miy^  must  be  shared  by  all ; 
that  the  real  interests  of  the  whole  human  family  are  one, 
even  as  their  nature  is  in  itself  the  same  ;  that  comprising 
in  our  being  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  organs,  it  is 
only  in  and  by  the  judicious  exercise  of  all  these  organs 
that  we  can  secure  to  ourselves  the  health  of  any ;  that 
unless  our  limbs  and  muscles  be  exercised,  our  whole  fi-ame 


^h  Mk'ktM.  [lect.  v. 

ihrrstbe  weak  or  diseased ;  unless  oiir  iniellectual  fttctilties 
be  fairly  developed  and  exercised,  we  cannot  regulate  wisely 
our  passions  or  our  actions,  and  unless  all  our  sensibiliti^^ 
be  wisely  cultivated  and  regulated,  we  can  never  ex- 
perience that  highest  enjoyment  proceeding  from  the  prac- 
tice of  active  virtue,  which  we  have  seen  to  flow  from  a 
ready  sympathy  in  the  wants  and  feelings  of  others. 

I  shall  now  close  our  investigations  by  the  riemark,  that 
MORALS,  or  THE  SCIENCE  OF  HUMAN  LIFE,  may,  for 
better  convenience,  and  with  a  view  to  the  presenting  in 
order  all  the  relations  it  involves,  be  divided  into  several 
heads. 

These  divisions  may,  in  some  cases,  be  rather  supplied 
by  existing  errors  than  by  inherent  truths.  It  being  indis- 
pensable, however,  in  the  actual  state  of  society,  to  develops 
all  truth  with  a  reference  to  existing  error,  I  purpose,  as 
leisure  and  my  more  regular  engagements  may  permit,  to 
Consider  the  conduct  of  human  beings  under  the  three 
^reat  relations  in  which  we  may  observe  them  to  stand. 

First.  Their  relation  to  each  other,  and  to  the  mass. 
This  will  embrace  a  review  of  all  our  duties,  public  and 
private.  It  will  lead  us  also  to  inspect  the  principles  of 
national  government,  law,  and  social  economy. 

Secondly.  The  mutual  relation  of  the  two  sexes ;  in 
Vhich  we  shall  be  called  upon  to  examine  the  principles  that 
should  direct  the  social  intercourse  of  men  and  women. 

Thirdly.  The  relation  of  the  old  to  the  young  ;  of  the 
lexisting  to  the  rising  generation,  viewing  us  in  the 
character  of  human  beings,  free  born,  and  self  govern- 
ing. Also,  the  relation  of  parents  to  children;  examining 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  being  who  gives  life 
to  the  being  who  receives  it.  This  will  lead  to  the  discus- 
sion of  the  important  subject  of  education,  and  ehcit  sugges- 
tions respecting  a  plan  of  national  education.     Until  somd 


iECT.  v.]  IffdHALl^.  125 

measures  shall  be  adopted  for  the  judicious  and  equal  in- 
struction and  protection  of  every  son  and  daughter  born  to 
the  Republic,  ye  cannot  be  (as  I  conceive)  Republicans. 
Until  exclusive  colleges,  paltry  comnion  schools,  ignorant 
Sunday  schools,  and  sectarian  churches,  be  replaced  by  state 
institutions,  founded  by  a  general  tax,  and  supported  by  the 
same,  (so  long  as  it  shall  be  riecessary-— that  is,  till  the  well 
regulated  industry  of  the  children  shall  meet  the  expenses  of 
their  education ;)  and  until,  in  these  national  institutions,  the 
child  of  your  Governor  shall  be  raised  with  the  child  of  your 
farmer,  and  the  child  of  your  President  with  that  of  your 
mechanic,  ye  cannot  be  (as  I  conceive)  Republicans.  And 
farther,  until  ye  have  good  libraries  and  good  teachers  of 
elementary  science  in  all  your  towns,  for  the  mental  im- 
provement of  the  existing  generation,  and  popular  halls  of 
assembly,  where  all  adults  may  meet  for  the  study  and 
discussion  of  their  social  and  national  interests,  as  fellow 
creatures  and  fellow  citizens,  ye  cannot  be  (as  I  conceive) 
RepubUcans. 

To  attempt  the  satisfactory  developement  of  the  impor- 
tant subjects  to  which  I  have  here  alluded,  it  would  be 
necessary  for  us  to  meet  under  other  circumstances  than 
those  at  present  existing.  On  my  part  would  be  necessary, 
the  conviction  that  I  was  devoting  my  time  and  labor,  not 
to  satisfy  the  unmotived  and  momentary  curiosity  of  a 
public  indifferent  to  its  noblest  interests,  but  that  I  was 
employed  with  and  for  a  pubhc  anxious  to  substitute 
knowledge  for  error,  and  virtue  for  superstition. 

To  inspire  that  conviction  in  me,  would  be  necessary  on 
your  part  some  active  measures,  for  which  the  desire  or 
the  courage,  or  both,  may  be  at  present  wanting. 

For  the  time  being,  I  shall  confine  my  exertions  to  the 
simple  elucidation  of  the  first  principles  of  the  science ;  to 
the  sketching  of  that  great  outline  within  which  all  truth 
l2 


12?  MORALS.  [lECT.  V. 

must  be  sought,  and  where,  I  trust,  you  may  yet  be  in- 
duced to  seek  it.  To  complete  the  general  survey  in  which 
we  are  considerably  advanced,  I  shall  endeavor,  at  our 
next  meeting,  to  elicit  the  nature  of  opinions,  and  the 
manner  of  their  formation :  with  a  view  to  the  correction 
of  that  spirit  of  proselytism,  which  now  transforms  us  all 
into  angry  combatants,  for  each  whimsey  of  our  brain, 
and  of  that  spirit  of  censoriousness,  which  is  now  ever  in- 
terfering with  the  mental  Hberty  and  moral  peace  of  so- 
ciety, and  rendering  the  Hfe  of  man  one  continued  scene 
of  strife  and  of  hypocrisy. 


LECTURE  VI. 


FORMATION  OF  OPINIONS. 

The  subject  to  which  I  shall  call  your  attention  this 
evening,  the  formation  of  opinions,  is  one  of  the 
utmost  practical  importance;  one  which  thoroughly  un- 
derstood, would  remove  uncharitableness  from  the  heart 
of  man,  and  shed  the  placid  rays  of  peace  and  truth  upon 
the  path  of  life. 

For  eighteen  centuries  and  upwards,  the  nations  styled 
civilized,  have  waged  a  war  of  opinion,  dying  the  altars 
of  their  faith  with  each  other's  blood,  or,  in  their  gentlest 
mood,  in  this  freest  country,  and  in  this  (compared  with  all 
the  past)  enlightened  age,  judging  in  severity,  sentencing 
in  bitterness,  and  persecuting,  by  angry  word  and  oppres- 
sive deed,  each  his  fellow  creature.  For  eighteen  centu- 
ries and  upwards,  sword  and  fire,  chains,  dungeons,  tor- 
tures, threats  and  curses,  or  (scarcely  less  severe)  pubUc 
scorn  and  private  censure,  the  falling  back  of  friends  and 
setting  on  of  foes,  the  whisperings  of  detraction,  the  sur- 
mises of  folly,  the  misapprehensions  and  misrepresentations 
of  ignorance,  have  conspired  to  wreak  vengeance  upon 
the  mind  and  body  of  man,  constraining  the  sacrifice,  im- 
possible to  force,  of  honest  opinion,  and  commanding  the 
assent  to  truth  or  error,  as  it  may  be,  of  that  noblest  pro- 
perty of  our  being — even  our  free-born  intellect.  For 
eighteen  centuries  and  upwards,  the  human  family, 
estranged  from  each  other,  albeit  pinned  within  the  fold  of 


V 

128  OPINIONS.  [lECT.  VI. 

one  faith,  have  striven  in  deadly  feud  like  the  fierce  beasts 
in  the  Roman  arena,  or  like  the  iron  knights  of  crusading* 
chivahy  within  the  fatal  lists  of  cruel  ordeal,  where 
might  alone  did  constitute  the  rights  and  the  fall  of  the 
weak  substantiated  the  justice  of  the  strong. 

Such,  to  look  no  farther  than  the  date  of  the  modem 
era,  hath  been  the  fate  of  the  nations.  The  weak  have 
been  trampled  on,  the  bold  in  spirit  have  been  crushed, 
the  conscientious  have  been  martyrized,  the  honest  have 
been  silenced,  the  stigmatized  for  liberty,  mercy  and  chan- 
ty have  been  hunted  through  the  earth  by  the  blood- 
hounds of  superstition,  until  the  heart  of  philanthropy  hath 
drooped  even  to  despair,  and  the  hope  of  philosophy  in  a 
better  and  fairer  future  hath  given  way.  Such  droopings 
and  faintings  must  have  been  experienced  by  every 
generous  mind,  when,  in  contemplating  the  face  of  so- 
ciety, it  loses  sight  of  the  generating  cause  of  the  evil 
which  it  mourns  ;  and,  again,  when  it  ceases  to  compare 
the  present  with  the  past,  and  so  marks  not  the  slow  and 
silent  progress  of  our  race  from  the  foul  night  of  barbarous 
ignorance  towards  the  fulness  of  civilizing  knowledge. 
But  let  us  clearly  distinguish  the  cause,  and  we  may 
hasten  the  application  of  the  remedy ;  let  us  trace  the 
advance  already  made  and  now  making,  and  we  may 
calculate  with  cheerful  confidence  on  our  future  destinies. 

Persecution  for  opinion  is  the  master  vice  of  society.  It 
was  this  raised  the  gloomy  walls  and  dug  the  foul  caverns 
of  the  Inquisition.  It  was  this  invented  the  rack,  and 
the  wheel,  and  the  faggot,  and  the  death-pang,  and  the 
dungeon,  where  the  Moor,  and  the  Jew,  and  the  philoso- 
pher, and  the  suspected  heretic  expired,  unpitied,  unremem- 
bered,  before  thanksgiving,  heaven-invoking  bigotry.  Jt 
was  this  butchered  the  simple  Waldenses,  in  the  valleys 
of  their  mountains.   It  was  this  mowed  down  the  Huanie- 


LECT.  VI.3  OPINIONS.  129 

nots  in  the  palace  of  the  Gallic  king.  It  was  this  dyed 
the  rivers  of  either  Indies  with  the  blood  of  their  peaceful 
children.  It  was  this  reared  the  horrid  pile  round  the 
gentle  Servetus,  by  the  hand  of  presbyterian  Calvin.  It 
was  this  drave  from  their  native  isle  the  forefathers  of  this 
nation  ;  and  it  has  been,  and  yet  is,  the  same  scourger  of 
human  peace,  and  bridler  of  human  liberty,  persecution 
FOR  opinion,  which  ruffles  the  whole  surface  of  this  fair 
republic,  nurtures  the  harsh  spirit  and  pride  of  sectari- 
anism, hardens  the  heart  of  man  towards  his  brother, 
sours  the  disposition  of  woman,  and  drops  gall  and  aloes 
into  the  cup  of  human  hfe.  Surely,  then,  are  we  called, 
in  our  character  of  reasoning  beings,  to  pierce  to  the 
source  of  this  poisonous  fountain  of  woe !  Surely  then, 
are  ye  doubly  called,  in  your  character  of  a  self-governing 
people,  to  arrest  the  flow  of  its  deadly  waters,  and  to 
seek  the  ways  and  the  means  for  refreshing  the  land  with 
the  soft  dews  of  love  ! 

In  developing  the  cause  of  the  vice  to  which  we  have 
reference,  we  must  first  examine  what  an  opinion  is  ;  es- 
tablish the  meaning  of  the  word,  and  the  nature  of  the 
intellectual  state  it  is  employed  to  designate. 

The  chief  aim  of  my  previous  efforts,  in  this  pliace,  has 
been  directed  to  the  attaining  a  just  apprehension  of  the 
nature  of  knowledge.  The  result  of  those  elementary 
enquiries,  I  conceive  to  be  present  to  your  minds.  Now,  as 
we  established  knowledge  to  be  an  accumulation  of  facts, 
so  are  all  just  opinions,  intellectual  conclusions  drawn 
from  those  facts.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  exactly  in  pro- 
portion to  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  our  knowledge 
must  be  the  justice  of  our  opinions  ;  and  vice  versa,  that 
in  equal  proportion  to  our  remissness  in  collecting,  and 
carelessness  in  weighing,  examining,  comparing,  and 
arranging  facts,  must  be  the  error  of  our  opinions.     Here 

17 


130  OPINIONS.  [lECT.  VI. 

—  then  we  see  ignorance,  or  the  absence  of  facts  from  the 
mind,  to  be  the  primary  cause  of  all  error. 

I  must  now  call  your  attention  to  a  very  curious  incon- 
sistency in  human  feeling.  Men  are  seldom  disposed  to 
be  angry  with  each  other  on  account  of  the  more  or  less 
knowledge  they  may  possess,  while  they  are  incessantly 
angry  with  the  varying  opinions,  which  are  as  necessa- 
ry consequents  upon  this  varying  knowledge,  as  we  con- 
ceive hght  or  darkness  to  be  upon  the  rising  or  setting  of 
the  sun.  That  one  should  know  more  than  another  ap- 
pears simple  and  pardonable;  but,  that  one  knowing  more, 
should  think  differently  from  others,  is  stampt  for  a  mortal 
offence,  without  hope  of  pardon  or  benefit  of  clergy.  The 
absurdity  of  applying  the  torture  to  the  physiological 
anatomist,  who  should  simply  discover  such  and  such  to 
be  the  structure  of  our  corporeal  machine,  would  appear 
too  gross  for  the  human  imagination,  and  yet  the  no  less 
gross  absurdity  of  resenting  the  conclusions  generated  by 
his  discoveries  appears  to  it  quite  facile  of  admission.  The 
facts  themselves,  if  deprived  of  all  their  consequences  and 
so  of  all  their  utihty,  would  be  tolerated,  but  let  them 
generate,  as  they  must  inevitably  generate,  their  own  con- 
clusions in  the  mind,  and  the  unfortunate  explorer  of 
science  is  hunted  down  by  the  dogs  of  persecution.  When 
the  observations  of  Lawrence  associated  the  phenomena 
of  Ufe,  thought,  and  motion,  inseparably  with  the  Uving, 
thinking,  and  moving  organs  of  our  frame,  instantly 
awoke  the  cry  of  Infidel !  Sceptic !  Materialist !  Atheist ! 
As  if  with  these  unmeaning  words,  which  those  who 
employ  usually  understand  no  more  than  did  Aristotle 
the  rules  of  his  own  logic  or  the  causes  of  the  influent  and 
refluent  tides — as  if,  I  say,  by  these  unmeaning  words, 
coupled  with  insulting  vituperations,  we  could  overthrow 
nature  herself,  aimihilate  the  facts  in  her  own  bosom,  or 


LECT.    VI.]  OPINIONS.  131 

stifle  the  conclusions  which  the  inspection  of  those  facts 
necessitate  in  the  perceiving  mind.  When  the  enquiring 
Gahleo  observed  that  the  phenomena  of  the  celestial 
bodies,  substantiated  the  motion  of  the  planets  in  heu  of 
that  of  the  sun,  why  was  he  dragged  before  the  tribunal 
of  death  7  Because  the  facts  he  proclaimed  started  in  the 
mind  of  bigotry  itself  the  inevitable  conclusion,  that  if  he 
was  right,  the  astronomy  of  the  Jews  was  wrong ;  and 
that,  "  Sun,  stand  thou  still,"  argued  an  error  in  the  pen 
that  wrote,  or  in  the  voice  that  spake.  And  we  may  far- 
ther ask,  why  in  these  or  our  own  times,  why  at  the 
present  hour,  if  a  bdd  enquirer  unclasp  the  book  of  know- 
ledge, and  simply  proclaim  its  simple  truths,  the  trump  of 
alarm  sounds  throughout  the  land,  and  threats,  outrage, 
and  abuse,  are  heaped  even  on  the  head  of  a  woman  ? 
Why,  but  becausie  the  facts  which  she,  strong  in  her  love 
to  man,  has  the  courage  to  reveal,  generate  in  the  minds 
of  her  very  opponents  conclusions  inimical  to  existing  sys- 
tems and  existing  expenditures,  and  proclaim  aloud  to  the 
teacher  as  well  as  the  scholar,  the  clergy  as  well  as  the 
people,  the  designing  as  well  as  the  ignorant,  that  if  know- 
ledge be  true,  superstition  is  false,  and  that  if  enquiry  be 
prosecuted,  church  and  hierarchy  must  fall ! 

But  in  discovering  the  propeUing  motives  of  this  incon- 
sistency, the  inconsistency  remains  the  same.  Unless  we 
can  annihilate  facts  themselves,  how  can  we  annihilate 
the  conclusions,  that  is,  the  opinions,  which  those  facts 
suggest?  When  we  employ  our  eyes,  and  when  we 
see,  or  when  we  stretch  forth  our  hand,  and  when  we 
feel,  must  we  not  acknowledge  the  presence  of  the  objects 
before  us,  and  can  we  resist  the  intellectual  assent  which 
follows  upon  their  perception  ? 

Whenever,  then,  we  hear  an  opinion  startling  from  its 
novelty,  what,  in  modesty,  should  we  say  ?  "  Perhaps  the 


1^  OPINIONS.  [lECT.  VI. 

individual  is  possessed  of  facts  which  have  not  fallen  undei 
our  observation,  or  attracted  our  attention.  Let  us  enquire 
of  him  what  they  are,  and  then  examine  the  facts  for  our 
selves."  And  what  upon  such  a  course  of  proceeding 
would  be  tlie  result  ?  One  of  three  consequences.  Either 
we  should  find  the  opinion  corroborated  by  facts,  in  which 
case  it  would  be  true,  and  compel  our  own  minds  to  its 
admission  ;  or  it  would  appear  insufficiently  substantiated 
by  facts,  in  which  case  we  should  leave  it  for  doubtful ;  or 
we  should  find  it  in  contradiction  with  facts,  in  which  case 
we  should  discard  it  for  spurious. 

But  now,  in  any  or  all  of  these  cases,  what  rational  ground 
can  we  find  for  anger  against  the  iudividual  who  may 
think  otherwise  than  we  think  ?  He  is  right ;  he  is  credu- 
lous; he  is  wrong.  What  then?  If  he  be  right,  it  is  for 
us  to  agree  with  him  ;  if  credulous,  we  are  not  obhged  to  be 
the  same  ;  if  wrong,  he  is  mistaken — and,  in  so  far  as  this 
may  be  a  source  of  evil,  the  loss  must  be  to  him.  For  that 
he  thinks  as  he  thinks,  and  as  we  think  not,  it  is  convincing 
that  some  evidence  is  present  to  his  mind  which  is  not 
present  to  ours  ;  and,  albeit  upon  examination  we  should 
pronounce  that  evidence  false,  so  long  as  it  exist  in  his 
mind  for  true,  must  he  think  as  he  thinks.  And  shall  we 
stigmatize  his  honest  opinion  for  a  crime  ?  By  treating 
him  as  a  felon  we  may  indeed  force  him  into  hypocrisy, 
but  cannot  convince  his  understanding.  To  do  the  latter, 
we  must  present  some  other  and  better  evidence  to  his 
mind-p— some  incontrovertible  facts,  out  of  which  a  more 
correct  opinion  may  arise.  Opinions  are  not  to  be  learned 
by  wte,  like  the  letters  of  an  alphabet,  or  the  words  of  a 
dictionary.  They  are  conclusions  to  be  formed,  and 
formed  by  each  individual  in  the  sacred  and  firee  citadel  of 
the  mind,  and  there  enshrined  beyond  the  arm  of  law  to 
reach,  cm:  force  to  shake  ;  ay  !  and  beyond  the  right  of  im- 


LECT.  VI.]  OPINIONS.  133 

pertinent  curiosity  to  violate,  or  presumptuous  arrogance  to 
threaten.  Alas,  for  consistency !  Alas,  for  reason  and  hap- 
piness !  Hath  man  fought  and  bled  for  political  Hberty,  and 
will  he  violate  the  hberty  of  the  mind?  When  he  has 
broken  the  bars  and  bolts  of  corporeal  dungeons,  will  he 
essay  to  clip  and  stretch  the  thoughts  of  his  fellow  beings 
to  the  measure  of  his  own?  Must  all  see  just  or  far  and  no 
farther  than  we  see  ?  If  this  be  civil  hberty,  better  the  wild 
freedom  of  the  wild  hunter !  Nay,  better  the  honest  slavery 
of  oriental  despotism,  where  at  least  the  wretch  is  warned 
to  choose  between  unmuttering  obedience  and  the  bow- 
string ! 

I  speak  warmly,  my  friends,  for  truly  my  heart  is 
moved  in  the  cause  of  that  holy  principle,  whose  name  is 
on  every  hp,  on  every  badge,  on  every  coin  of  the  land, 
but  whose  vital  spirit  is  profaned  in  our  high  places  and 
our  private  ways,  in  house  and  chamber,  in  book  and  con- 
verse, in  hall  and  church,  and  oh,  more  than  all  profaned 
in  the  secret  heart  of  man  ! 

Could  we  but  obliterate  all  the  false  lessons  imbibed 
during  a  pernicious  education — could  we  but  arrive  at  the 
perception  of  those  primitive  truths,  which  it  is  now  the 
object,  because  the  interest,  of  all  our  teachers  to  stifle — 
could  we  but  engage  in  the  investigation  of  the  operations 
of  our  own  intellect — could  we  understand  the  nature  of 
an  opinion,  and  the  manner  of  its  formation,  never  could 
we  be  guilty  of  persecution  for  the  involuntary  conclusions 
of  the  mind. 

And  yet  simple  ignorance,  as  we  have  seen,  is  not  the 
only  cause  of  the  irrational  anger  eUcited  by  the  varying 
opinions  of  men.  Ignorance,  unbacked  and  unspurred, 
would  not  suffice  to  breed  such  tempests  in  the  human 
bosom  as  we  see  engendered  against  so  gentle,  so  unin- 
tentional an  offence  as  a  difference  in  opniion.     The  un- 

M 


134  OPINIONS.  [lECT.  VI. 

tutored  Indian  lifts  not  his  tomahawk  against  his  brother 
because  he  thinks  not  with  him  respecting  the  attributes  of 
their  Great  Spirit,  or  the  nature  of  their  expected  hunting 
ground  in  the  shadowy  world  of  the  dead.  No !  igno- 
rance of  the  powers  of  the  human  mind  will  not  alone  ex- 
plain the  existence  of  the  deadly  evil,  albeit  knowledge  of 
those  powers  ^^-ould  suffice  to  dispel  it. 

The  unhappy  circumstances  which  combined  to  orga- 
nize a  system  of  instruction  in  speculations  of  faith  instead 
of  objects  of  knowledge,  and  to  set  apart  a  body  of  men 
for  the  express  purpose  of  expounding  inexplicable  creeds, 
and  chaining  the  intellects  of  their  hearers  down  to  written 
points  of  doctrine,  unintelligible  mysteries  and  verbal 
quibbles,  first  originated  the  monstrous  absurdity  and 
lamentable  evil  to  which  we  have  reference.  Were  it  not 
absolutely  made  the  occupation  of  a  part  of  the  community 
to  set  the  rest  by  the  ears,  never  could  human  beings  have 
disputed  for  ages,  and  shed  rivers  of  blood,  for  establishing 
and  protecting  the  dogma  of  a  Trinity  in  Unity,  predestina- 
tion to  salvation  or  damnation,  the  divine  presence  or  ab- 
sence in  a  wafer  of  bread  or  the  liquor  in  a  wine  cup,  the 
saving  efficacy  of  the  sign  of  the  cross,  or  the  sprinkling 
of  cold  water  on  the  forehead  of  an  infant.  Never  could 
they  have  wasted  their  lives  and  their  treasure  in  squab- 
bles about  hair-drawn  distinctions  in  fantastic  ideas  and 
unimportant  possibilities,  had  not  the  custom  been  origi- 
nated of  employing  teachers  of  opinions^  instead  of 
teachers  of  facts. 

That  we  have  here  suggested  the  main  cause  of  the 
irrational  disputes  which  up  to  this  hour  have  corroded  the 
peace  of  society,  is  abundantly  substantiated  by  observa- 
tion, and  corroborated  by  history. 

In  whatever  country  there  has  existed  a  priesthood, 
there  opinionative  persecution  has  prevailed,  and  there,  and 


LECT.  VI.]  OPINIONS.  136 

there  only,  has  the  popular  superstition  been  profaned  by 
blood,  expiatory  atonements,  and  never  slumbering 
opinionative  dissentions. 

Let  us  look  back  to  Egypt,  to  India,  to  Judea,  to 
Carthage,  to  Greece,  to  Rome — in  all,  tradition  presents 
us  with  a  priesthood,  and  exactly  in  proportion  to  the 
power  of  that  priesthood,  with  less  or  more  of  rehgious 
butcheries  or  opinionative  persecutions.  We  find  the  same, 
in  a  ratio  exactly  proportionate  to  the  power  of  the  priesthood, 
among  all  Christian  nations ;  while  among  savages,  how- 
ever ignorant,  or  even  in  their  ignorance  revengeful,  but 
whom  we  find  without  religious  teachers,  the  popular 
superstition  is  ever  harmless.  Witness  the  gentle  South 
Sea  Islander,  or  the  fierce  Indian  of  this  Northern  hemis- 
phere, whose  faith,  simple  in  itself,  and  entirely  devoid  of 
ceremonial,  has  never  once  been  found  a  cause  of  war,  or 
even  of  dissention  ;  while  in  Mexico,  when  first  explored 
by  the  Spaniards,  the  blood  of  victims  streamed  from 
altars  sanctified  by  officiating  ministers,  whose  butcheries 
only  ceased,  to  give  place  to  those  of  their  Chiistian  con- 
querors. 

And  among  ourselves,  my  friends,  what  feeds  the  angry- 
spirit  which  is  abroad  ?  Even  that  which  first  originated  it 
among  men  :  the  exalting  the  dreams  of  our  ignorance 
into  a  science ;  the  setting  apart  times  and  places  for  its 
especial  study,  and  the  ordaining  a  body  of  men  to  pro- 
pound its  mysteries,  and  to  protect  them  from  the  power 
of  that  principle  which  is  inherent  aUke  in  matter  and  in 
mind — ^improvement.  Let  us  leave  Religion  to  herself, 
and  she  will  work  no  evil.  Let  us  leave  her  single  and 
alone,  without  the  adjimct  of  priest  or  temple,  to  measure 
weapons  with  knowledge.  If  true,  she  will  stand;  if 
false,  she  will  fall.  Let  us  store  the  human  mind  with 
the  truths  of  science  j  and,  whatever  opinions  these  may 


136  OPINIONS.  [lECT.  VI. 

confirm  or  may  generate,  neither  time  nor  changes,  power, 
wealth,  violence  nor  cormption,  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune, 
nor  the  fall  of  empires,  can  overthrow. 

I  have  already  attempted  to  show  that  .an  opinion,  pro- 
perly so  called,  is  a  conclusion  of  the  mind,  spontaneously 
elicited  upon  the  admission  of  facts,  or  upon  the  admission 
of  evidence  which  it  receives  for  fact.  On  the  accuracy 
of  the  evidence  received  must  then  depend  the  accuracy 
of  the  opinion  ehcited  therefrom.  Wheresoever  we  are  in 
possession  of  facts,  well  examined,  well  substantiated,  ar- 
ranged, and  compared,  are  our  opinions  just ;  whenever 
we  receive  for  fact  what  is  not  fact,  or  whenever  we  are 
careless  in  our  examination  of  facts,  must  our  opinions  be 
erroneous. 

But  how  are  we  to  designate  those  states  of  the  mind, 
when  in  the  absence  of  all  facts,  and  all  evidence,  it  is 
tortured  to  receive  ideas?  Ideas  they  cannot  be  called, 
for  these  are  suggestions  derived  from  sensations.  Opinions 
they  cannot  be  called,  for  these  are  conclusions  spon- 
taneously elicited  by  evidence.  The  teacher  who  begins 
by  essaying  to  instil  opinions,  attempts  an  impossibility. 
He  may  engraft  prejudices,  suggest  fantasies,  distort  the 
feehngs,  put  the  mind  in  confusion,  but  he  cannot  teach 
opinions. 

Oh,  when  will  men  perceive  what  it  is  possible  to  im- 
part, and  desirable  to  acquire  ?  When  will  they  look  to 
KNOWLEDGE  as  the  subject  matter  of  instruction,  and 
dropping  its  pleasant  truths  in  the  fertile  soil  of  the  mind, 
leave  opinions  to  spring  up  themselves,  as  the  plant  from 
the  seed  ! 

But,  look  ye,  my  friends  !  what  are  ye  or  your  agents 

now  labouring  to  teach,  not  in  your  own  land  only,  but  in 

I  the  remotest  regions   of  the  globe?   Opinions.     About 

"**"  what  are  ye  disputing  yourselves,  and  essaying  to  make 


LECT.  VI.]  OPINIONS.  IW 

all  tribes  and  nations  dispute  ?  Opinions.  For  what  pour 
ye  forth  your  treasures  ?  For  what  endow  seminaries  and 
churches  ?  For  what  plant  spies  and  eves-droppers  in  every 
establishment,  charitable,  philosophical,  or  humane,  founded 
in  your  cities  ?  For  what  are  the  gentle  and  the  wise 
driven  from  superintendence  in  your  jails,  your  bridewells, 
your  houses  of  refuge,  your  asylums,  your  schools  ?  For 
what  all  this  but  for  opinions. 

But  ye  will  say,  "  It  is  not  we,  it  is  not  we,  the  people — 
it  is  the  Clergy,  it  is  the  American  Jesuit,  it  is  more  than 
all,  the  Presbyterian."  With  permission,  my  friends,  but 
it  is  you — it  is  the  people.  Why  give  ye  the  rein  to  am- 
bition ?  Why  gold  to  rapacity  ?  Why  stay  ye  not  the 
strife  of  tongues,  the  battle  for  supremacy,  the  fever  of 
proselytism,  the  persecution  for  opinions  ?  True,  the 
teacher  hath  led  the  way.  True,  the  false  shepherd  hath 
beguiled  you.  But  when  ye  see  the  error  of  the  path,  will 
ye  not  tread  back  your  steps  ?  Will  ye  madly  drive  on 
when  your  eyes  are  open  to  the  pit  and  your  ears  warned 
of  destruction  ? 

But  say  that  ye  be  willing  to  foster  strife  within  your 
own  borders — under  what  plea,  by  what  right,  by  what 
authority,  scatter  ye  its  seeds  in  lands  not  yours,  among 
people  neither  acknowledging  your  supremacy,  nor  subject 
to  your  laws  ?  I  will  not  follow  your  missions  across  At- 
lantic and  Pacific,  athwart  other  zones,  and  one  half  of  the 
world's  meridians,  to  the  banks  of  Senegal  and  Ganges  ; 
I  will  not  track  your  emissaries  to  the  Isles  of  the  Southern 
Sea,  and  note  the  peace  of  their  simple  children  profaned 
by  dogmas,  and  their  innocence  by  intoxicating  liquors.  I 
will  not  look  beyond  the  borders  of  this  Union,  nor  will  I 
invoke  other  testimony  than  that  supplied  by  the  native 
sons  of  the  land.  I  will  summon  my  witnesses  and  your 
accusers  from  the  deep  forests  of  the  Mobile,  the  sweet 
m2  18 


138  OPINIONS.  [LECT.  VI. 

springs  of  the  pleasant  Yazoo,  and  the  shores  of  your  own 
fresh  water  seas.  I  will  call  upon  the  Creek  and  the 
Choctaw,  the  Cherokee  and  the  Seneka,  to  denounce  the 
folly  and  mischief  of  your  emissaries,  and  the  madness  of 
your  zeal.  Or  it  shall  suffice,  to  array  against  ye  the 
words  of  the  venerable  chief,  the  expostulations  of  the  father 
of  his  people,  who  in  this  city,  so  lately,  in  the  ears  of  its 
citizens,  denounced  the  intriguing  spirit,  the  feud-breeding 
faith,  the  honey-lipped  but  hitter-hearted  hypocrisy  (I 
employ  his  own  epithets)  of  your  proselytizing  missionaries. 
Oh,  when  ye  afflict  strange  people  and  other  races  with 
the  curse  which  rests  upon  yourselves — when,  despite  their 
expostulations,  and  presuming  upon  your  power,  ye  add 
the  feuds  of  opinions  to  the  hatred  of  tribes,  and  send  forth 
retailers  of  spirituous  and  spiritual  poison  to  the  dusky 
children  of  nature — Oh,  think  well  of  the  liberty  ye  out- 
rage, the  rights  of  nations  that  ye  violate,  the  awful  respon- 
sibiUty  that  ye  assume  ! 

Could  ye  send  to  your  red  brethren  peaceful  instructors 
in  the  useful  arts  of  life,  enhghtened  observers  of  nature, 
respecters  of  human  feeling,  who,  without  questioning  their 
reverence  for  the  benign  spirit  whose  presence  they  ac- 
knowledge in  the  heart,  would  travel  with  them  in  peace 
the  paths  of  hfe,  and  exchange  with  them  all  the  offices  of 
human  love  ;  could  ye  send  to  the  feeble  remnant  of  that 
race,  whose  decay  has  been  the  price  of  youi*  greatness, 
such  instructors  as  these,  ye  might  cancel  the  remembrance 
of  injury,  and  preserve  in  your  bosom  a  happy  rehc  of  a 
people,  interesting  from  your  own  history,  their  character, 
and  their  wrongs.  But,  until  such  ye  can  send,  (and,  alas, 
such  how  rare !)  oh,  my  friends,  send  not  at  all. 

Another  remark  here  suggests  itself ;  that  as  in  the  exist- 
ing state  of  human  knowledge,  an  uncommon  opinion  is 


LECT.  VI.]  OPINIONS.  1319 

always  unpopular,  so  does  it  afford  strong  evidence  of  the 
honesty  of  the  individual  who  expresses  it. 

If  the  observations  now  presented,  in  conjunction  with 
our  previous  investigations,  should  have  satisfied  you  of  the 
involuntary  birth  of  opinions  in  the  mind,  the  impossibility 
of  changing  opinions  but  by  supplying  other  and  stronger 
evidence  than  that  wliich  generated  the  existing  opinions, 
and  the  impossibiUty  of  teaching  opinions  as  we  teach 
words  to  a  parrot,  you  will  perceive  the  absurdity,  no  less 
than  the  injustice,  of  all  displeasure  on  account  of  the  intel- 
lectual conclusions  generated  in  our  fellow-creatures,  and 
the  equal  absurdity  of  devoting  your  time  and  money  to 
the  acquisition  and  propagation  of  opinions,  instead  of  the 
acquisition  and  propagation  of  facts.  You  will  admit  also, 
I  think,  that  an  honest  opinion,  even  w^hen  erroneous, 
merits  always  the  respect  of  a  good  mind,  and  that  an 
uncommon  opinion  merits  always  the  investigation  of  an 
enquiring  mind. 

These  considerations  will  appear  to  you  of  the  highest 
moral  importance  should  you  examine,  as  it  is  your  duty 
to  examine,  the  harsh  feelings  and  ungentle  dealings 
springing  daily  and  hourly  out  of  intolerance  and  censo- 
riousness.  Lamentably  has  the  list  of  the  human  virtues 
been  curtailed  by  our  inobservancy  of  the  occurrences 
passing  around  us,  our  inattention  to  the  effects  of  our 
words  and  actions  on  the  happiness  of  our  fellow  beings, 
our  ignorance  of  the  powers  of  our  own  minds,  and  our 
indifference  to  the  gentle  dictates  of  human  sympathy. 
While  our  thoughts  have  been  wandering  in  the 
limbo  of  theological  speculations,  our  eyes  have  been  pry- 
ing with  impious  curiosity  into  those  of  our  neighbor,  our 
hps  have  been  outraging  the  Uberty  of  man,  by  challenging 
his  right  to  the  utterance  of  his  opinions,  and  so  perverted 
has  been  our  reason,  so  corrupted  our  hearts,  that  while 


k 


140  OPINIONS.  [lECT.  VI. 

thus  engaged  in  murdering  our  own  peace,  and  the  peace 
of  others,  we  have  called  our  censoriousness  by  the  name 
of  virtue,  and  sanctified  our  orthodox  intolerance  by  the 
name  of  religion.  Alas  !  when  shall  we  see  that  our 
business  is  with  our  own  doings,  our  ow7i  feelings,  our  own 
opinions ;  and  that  with  a  view  to  the  formation  of  the 
one,  and  the  regvdation  of  the  other,  we  must  patiently 
observe  all  things,  and  gently  hear  all  things,  even  that 
we  may  be  fitted  in  all  things  to  choose  that  which  is  best ! 

One  observation,  not  without  its  practical  importance, 
yet  occurs  to  me  on  the  subject  of  opinions.  While  our 
first  duty  is  correctly  to  form  our  own,  it  is  doubtless  our 
farther  duty  to  assist  in  the  formation  of  those  of  others. 
How  this  may  alone  be  done  we  have  seen  ;  namely,  by 
presenting  facts  to  the  mind ;  in  other  words,  by  organizmg 
a  plan  of  uniform  and  universal  instruction  in  all  the 
branches  of  positive  knowledge,  by  wliich  means  all  men, 
being  giadually  put  in  possession  of  the  same  correct 
evidence,  may  be  gradually  led  to  the  formation  of  just 
and  coinciding  opinions. 

It  needs  not  to  ask  if  such  a  consummation  be  de- 
sirable. It  needs  not  to  ask  if  disputing  and  quarrelling 
be  advantageous  or  agreeable.  It  needs  not  to  ask  if  the 
employment  of  twenty  miUions  per  annum  in  feeding  sec- 
tarian jealousies,  bitter  feelings,  persecuting  creeds,  and 
contradictory  conclusions,  be  injudicious  or  profitable.  I 
care  not  what  opinions  or  what  fantasies  we  profess,  I  care 
not  under  what  standard  we  have  ranged  ourselves — ^I  care 
not  how  ignorant  or  how  positive  we  may  be  in  our  errors, 
still  am  I  persuaded  that  allj  however  differing  as  to  the 
pouit  of  union,  are  agreed  that  union  would  be  desirable. 
All  ?  Said  I  that  all  are  agreed  7  Yes,  all ;  save  those  who 
live  by  existing  divisions  and  confusion. 

But  it  will  be  asserted,  in  the  present  confused  state  of 


LECT.  VI.]  OPINIONS.  t4^ 

the  human  intellect,  that,  however  desirable,  what  we  have 
suggested  is  impossible.  We  shall  be  told  that  men  can 
never  agree  in  opinion.  They  certainly  never  can,  until 
they  understand  what  an  opinion  is,  and  what  know- 
ledge is  ;  then  will  they  perceive  how,  when  we  shall 
be  all  informed  in  the  knowledge  of  things,  and  shall  con- 
sent to  restrict  our  enquiries  within  the  range  of  our  ob- 
servation, we  must  all  agree  in  the  other. 

I  know  we  shall  be  asked  tauntingly,  whether  we  ex- 
pect all  men  to  become  philosophers.  Certainly  not  all 
those  now  living,  and  Tnost  certainly  few  of  those  who  put 
the  question.  Generations  may  pass  away  ere,  even  in 
this  comparatively  free  country,  all  men  attain  to  their 
birth-right  equal  privileges  of  instruction.  I  incline  not  to 
gigantic  hopes  respecting  our  cotemporaries.  Much  they 
certainly  may  do.  Much  more  I  wish  them  to  do.  And 
though  it  be  ill  planting  the  best  seed  in  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  life,  and  though  the  spring  time  be  put  in  our 
own  minds,  could  we  but  learn  sufficient  to  remove  some 
weeds,  and  but  to  lop  away  that  one  poisonous  wide-spread- 
ing tree  of  evil,  persecution  for  opinion,  the  paths  of  life, 
even  in  our  day,  might  be  made  smooth,  and  the  children 
of  men  travel  through  them  in  peace. 

Nor  should  we  omit  to  notice  one  fact,  sufficient  if  ob- 
served, even  in  the  absence  of  all  other  knowledge,  to  turn 
men  from  the  idle  warfare  in  which  they  are  engaged. 
Let  us  look  to  the  consequences  of  persecution.  Did  it 
ever  convince?  did  it  ever  convert  ?  Violence  indeed  may 
overthrow  empires,  may  slaughter  nations,  may  assassi- 
nate individuals,  may  harrass  the  mind,  crucify  the  feel- 
ings, but  it  cannot  controvert  opinions.  Persecution  will 
suffice  even  to  estabUsh  error,  and  hath  ever  proved  om- 
nipotent in  advancing  truth.  They  who  have  recourse 
to  it  are  Wind  to  aU  fia-cts,  blind  to  the  noblest  principle 


142 


OPINIONS. 


[lECT.  VI. 


'\ 


of  our  nature,  to  the  strongest  instinct  in  all  sentient  ex- 
istence. Where  doth  violence  not  provoke  resistance  from 
the  lowest  animal  up  to  man  ?  Wound  the  bear,  and  he 
will  turn  on  the  hunters ;  press  on  the  noble  stag,  and  he 
will  give  battle  to  his  murderers ;  nay  !  injure  the  gentle 
and  faithful  dog,  and  we  find  the  spirit  of  the  Uon. 

And  is  it  man — man,  strong  in  every  noble  energy, 
powerful  in  every  faculty,  rich  in  all  the  resources,  and 
sublime  in  all  the  dignity  of  intelligence — is  it  man  whom 
we  would  frighten  into  tame  surrender  of  his  loftiest  pow- 
ers ?  whom  we  would  cudgel  out  of  his  own  free  thoughts, 
and  crush  under  the  chariot-wheels  of  intolerance  ?  Let  us 
look  into  past  history — let  us  mark  on  the  human  mind, 
through  all  ages,  in  aU  nations,  the  effects  of  persecution. 
When  the  justice  of  Aristides  turned  admiration  to  envy, 
what  restored  him  to  the  love  of  his  countrymen  ?  Per- 
secution. When  the  lessons  of  Socrates  fell  powerless  on 
the  giddy  ears  of  the  Athenians,  what  graved  his  name 
and  his  precepts  on  their  hearts  ?  His  death  by  persecu- 
tion. What  revenged  all  the  patriots  of  Rome  of  a  mis- 
guided multitude  ?  Persecution.  And  what  rooted  Chris- 
tianity in  the  hostile  soil  of  heathenism?  Persecution. 
What  fostered  the  heresy  of  Luther  ?  Persecution.  What 
built  up  the  church  of  Calvin  ?  Persecution.  What  hath 
given  a  substance  and  a  name  to  all  the  distinctions,  real 
or  imagined,  of  each  religious  reformer?  Persecution. 
What  hath  preserved  the  Jew  pure  and  entire  in  his  faith, 
in  his  blood,  in  ceremony  and  feature,  through  ages  of 
time,  and  wliile  lost  and  scattered  amidst  nations  opposed 
in  every  custom,  law,  feeling  and  creed  ?  Why  hath  he 
stood  a  noble  monument  of  patient  endurance,  conscien- 
tious pertinacity,  scrupulous  fidelity,  long-suffering  and 
uncomplaining,  yet  unyielding  resistance?  Why,  like  a 
column  in  the  desert,  wearing  its  capital  and  its  tracery  and 


LECT.  VI.J  OPINIONS.  143 

all  the  form  and  ornament  stampt  by  the  genius  of  for- 
gotten artists  and  forgotten  nations,  stands  he  to  this  hour 
a  wondrous  relic  of  empire  departed  and  grandeur  over- 
thrown ?  Why,  but  because  of  persecution  ? 

Or,  say  again,  what  hath  provoked  vengeance  on  the 
head  of  kings?  What  hurried  English  Charles  to  the 
scaffold  ?  What  threw  down  the  royalty  and  nobility  of 
France  from  their  antique  thrones,  and  long  estabhshed 
supremacy  ?  Or,  yet  once  more,  what  turned  the  people 
from  the  prostituted  name  of  liberty  and  the  insignia  of  a 
repubUc  dropping  with  gore,  to  reconcile  them  again  to 
detested  sceptres  and  the  name  and  style  of  king  ?  And, 
oh  say,  people  of  America  !  descendants  of  English  Puri- 
tans, French  Huguenots,  Irish  cathohcs,  condemned  regi- 
cides, outlawed  patriots,  and  sanctified  martyrs  !  what, 
driving  your  fathers  from  European  realms,  hath  built  up 
the  noble  frame  of  this  repubhc  ?  Oh  say,  torturers  of  the 
human  mind  !  what  hath  done  tliis  save  persecution  ? 

And  will  ignorance  never  cease  from  troubhng,  and 
error  never  be  at  rest?  Will  persecution  take  her  stand 
even  at  the  fane  of  freedom,  denouncing  alike  socinian, 
universalist,  Jew,  sceptic,  and  philosopher,  yea  !  denoun- 
cing every  profession,  employment,  discovery  and  recrea- 
tion which  squares  not  with  the  rule  of  orthodoxy,  or 
diverts  dollars  from  its  treasury  ? 

I  point  here  to  no  particular  sect ;  I  point  here  to  no 
individuals  :  I  point  to  the  spirit  of  persecution  arising  out 
of  written  creeds,  and  authorizing  ambition  to  make  re- 
ligion its  stalking  horse,  and  to  say  to  every  man  within 
or  without  the  pale  of  the  declaration  of  faith,  "  so  far 
shall  thou  go,  and  no  farther. ^^ 

I  am  said  to  make  war  upon  the  clergy,  and  to  hold 
them  up  to  the  hatred  and  derision  of  the  people :  it  is  not 
so.  I  have  denounced  the  system,  not  the  men.  I  have  de- 


IM  OPINIONS.  [lECT.  VI. 

nounced  the  system  which  splits  this  nation  into  parties, 
which  encourages  and  authorizes  individuals,  under  the 
plea  of  serving  God  and  teaching  faith,  to  injure  what  I 
beheve  the  interests  of  man,  and  darken  what  every  mind 
blessed  with  intelligence  kiwws  to  be  the  hght  of  truth.  I 
have  not  denounced  the  clergy  as  men.  I  have  denoun- 
ced them  as  an  organized  body.  As  a  body,  set  apart  from 
the  people,  with  other  interests,  other  duties,  other  feel- 
ings. I  have  not  denounced  them  as  men — so  help  me 
that  spirit  of  charity  which  I  trust  by  my  lip  or  my  pen 
hath  never  been  profaned  !  but  I  have  denounced,  and  (so 
help  me  the  spirit  <rf  truth  which  arms  me  to  fight  this 
battle  in  its  cause !)  so  loill  I  denounce  them,  as  the  organs 
and  ostensible  representatives  of  a  pernicious  system, 
which  is  driving  the  moral  character,  and  shaking  the 
political  frame  of  tliis  nation,  to  its  dissolution. 

But  I  will  say  more.  So  far  from  essaying  to  stigma- 
tize the  mass  of  any  clergy,  I  have  held  in  private  esteem 
and  respect  mdividuals  among  all.  The  catholic,  the  epis- 
copal, the  baptist,  the  methodist,  the  unitarian,  the  univer- 
salist,  the  most  rigid  as  the  most  benign  expoimders  of  the 
christian  law,  may  doubtless  show  among  them  men  who 
wear  theii-  religion  less  on  the  Up  than  in  the  heart,  and 
who,  more  citizen  than  sectarian,  present  to  their  fellows 
a  creed  made  up  of  gentleness  and  love.  But  such  as 
these  could  echo  if  I  mistake  not  the  denunciations  I  pro^ 
nounce.  Yea  !  such  as  these,  if  I  mistake  not,  writhe  under 
the  fanaticism  they  are  constrained  to  tolerate  in  their  bre- 
thren, and  both  lament  the  error  of  the  system  with  which 
they  are  associated,  and  blush  for  the  arrogance  of  those 
martinets  in  orthodoxy,  whose  noise  drowns  all  gentler 
voices,  and  whose  assumption  of  authority,  awes  the  timid 
and  the  ignorant  into  submission. 

Say  I  too  much  of  the  spirit  that  is  abroad  ?  Denounce  I 


LECT.  VT.]  OPINIONS.  146 

too  warmly  a  system,  which  in  a  land  professing  liberty,  is 
the  more  dangerous  because  the  less  suspected  ?  There  is 
other  persecution  than  that  by  fire  and  faggot;  other 
weapons  than  the  bayonet  and  the  sword ;  other  restraints 
than  those  of  law  and  arrest ;  other  ways  to  coerce  con- 
tributions than  by  tithes  and  taxation :  yea !  and  those 
other,  and  those  worse,  because  less  alarming  while  equal- 
ly effectual  and  vexatious — those  other,  and  those  worse, 
are  here.  In  this  land,  cunning  does  the  work  of  violence. 
Persecution  wears  her  shafts  close  hid:  they  are  not  wing- 
ed in  the  broad  sun-shine  for  every  eye  to  see  and  every 
spirit  to  resent :  silently,  and  from  the  covert,  are  they 
sped  ;  unseen  the  aim,  and  unheeded  the  mischief.  There 
is  a  secret  influence  at  work,  which  all  feel  and  none  dis- 
tinguish. It  infects  all  society,  taints  every  institution  in 
the  land,  poisoning  alike  human  instruction,  h  iman  laws, 
and  human  recreation.  In  your  schools— -it  diseases  the 
infant  mind  with  superstitious  terrors,  and  with  reason- 
confounding,  heart-distorting  creeds.  In  your  colleges — it 
stifles  the  breath  of  your  teachers  of  science,  and  con- 
strains the  entanglement  of  their  simple  facts  with  the 
dreams  of  theology.  In  your  books  and  periodicals — ^but 
it  matters  not  to  speak  of  the  press.  In  your  courts  of  law- 
it  tempts  to  perjury,  sitting  in  judgment  on  the  religious 
creed  of  witnesses,  and  reflecting  even  on  that  of  the 
prisoner.  In  your  legislatures — it  dictates  unconstitutional 
ordinances,  and  unconstitutional  disposals  of  money  and 
of  lands.  Nay  !  at  this  moment,  it  is  outraging  the  ear 
of  your  national  congiess,  with  presbyterian  Sabbath  law 
petitions.*  In  your  amusements — alas !  there  its  influence 

*  This  discourse  was  first  delivered  in  the  Second  Universalist  Church, 
New- York,  (by  request  of  its  pastor  and  the  majority  of  the  trustees,)  dur- 
ing the  season  of  the  presentation  of  those  petitions  at  Washington,  which 
produced  the  celebrated  report  of  the  committee  of  the  senate,  already  &. 
miliar  to  every  American  citizen.  \J^'^  ^*^  iX>.^-«iu  i>L 

N  19 


*'^' 


i4^  O^PINIdWS.  [lECT.  VI. 

hath  been  mortal !  Your  amusements,  which  under  wise 
direction  and  judicious  encouragement,  should  elevate  the 
mind  and  humanize  the  heart — ^your  amusements,  I  say, 
it  has  degraded,  it  has  perverted,  and  so  led  the  mind 
astray  from  pleasure  to  vice,  from  healthy  recreation  to 
mind-debasing,  life  destroying  licentiousness. 

Have  I  charged  orthodoxy  with  too  much  ?  Look  to 
your  stage !  see  what  it  is ;  then  look  back  to  ancient 
Greece,  and  judge  what  it  might  be.  Listen  on  every 
hand  to  the  denunciations  of  fanaticism  against  pleasures 
the  most  innocent,  recreations  the  most  necessary  to  bodily 
health,  and  conducive  to  social  fellowship  and  mental  im- 
provement. See  it  make  of  the  people's  day  of  leisure,  a 
day  of  penance !  Thus,  in  the  absence  of  innocent  diver- 
sion, or  improving  study,  driving  men  to  intoxication, 
women  to  scandal,  or  to  silly,  sentimental,  reason-con- 
founding novels,  half  filled  with  romance  and  half  with 
superstition,  and  by  dint  of  fatiguing  the  mind  with  irra- 
tional doctrines,  and  tedious  exhortations,  disgusting  youth 
with  all  instruction,  and  turning  it  loose  upon  a  corrupt 
world  with  no  light  for  its  reason,  no  rein  for  its  passions, 
ho  prop  for  its  integrity. 

We  hear  of  sabbath  breakers.  And  who  are  they  that 
break  the  sabbath  of  the  mind?  Even  such  as,  it  would  seem, 
taxed  with  sabbath  breaking  the  poor  man's  friend  and 
rich  man's  reprover,  Jesus ;  who,  instead  of  frequenting 
temples  made  with  hands,  where  the  Scribes  and  Phari- 
sees expounded  their  written  laws,  and  acted  the  outer 
ceremonies  of  their  superstition,  sought  the  world  of 
nature  and  the  fields  of  human  industry,  and,  as  he 
gathered  the  ears  of  corn  on  the  day  sanctified  to  super- 
stition, sentenced  by  practice  as  well  as  precept,  those  ob- 
servances which,  at  this  day,  in  a  country  styled  Christian, 
cost  to  the  nation  twenty  millions  per  annum.     "  Many 


LECT.  VI.]  OPINIONS.  1411 

things,"  said  the  mild  reformer,  whose  mildness  8aye4  i^m 
not  from  martyrdom — "  many  things  have  I  to  say  to  ye, 
but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now."  And  alas,  could  his  fol- 
lowers bear  them  yet  ?  Are  they  not  still  led  as  were  the 
Jews  of  old  by  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  make  broad 
their  phylacteries,  devour  widow's  houses,  and  for  a  pre- 
tence, make  long  prayers  ?  Are  they  not  still  sitting  in 
judgment  on  their  neighbor ;  questioning  his  faith,  ii^stead 
of  looking  to  their  own  doings ;  and,  content  with  idle 
observances  of  days  and  seasons,  neglecting  all  that  could 
improve  their  own  hearts  and  add  to  the  happiness  of  theif 
fellow  creatures  ? 

What  think  ye  my  friends  ?  If  Jesus,  or  his  likeness, 
should  now  visit  the  earth,  what  church  of  the  many 
which  now  go  by  his  name  would  he  enter  ?  Qr,  if  tempt- 
ed by  curiosity,  he  should  inchne  to  look  inlLo  all,  which 
do  you  think  would  not  shut  the  door  in  his  face  1  "  H^ 
despises  the  law,"  would  sound  from  one ;  "  He  breaks  the 
sabbath,"  would  echo  from  another ;  "  He  makes  no  pray- 
ers and  professes  no  creed,"  would  mutter  a  third ;  "  He 
would  exalt  the  low,  bring  down  the  mighty,  and  revolu- 
tionize society,"  would  cry  a  fourth ;  "  He  keeps  company 
with  publicans  and  sinners,"  fxom  a  fifth ;  "  He  is  no  bet- 
ter than  an  infidel,"  would  shout  the  whole,  since  he  lets 
pass  the  Sadducees  without  reproach  who  profess  no  know^ 
ledge  out  of  this  world  and  this  life,  and  denounces  the 
Pharisees  who  hold  the  keys  of  heaven  and  hell,  aiid 
know  all  that  is  passing  in  both  regions. 

It  seems  to  me,  my  friends,  that  as  one  who  love^ 
peace,  taught  industry,  equality,  union,  and  love,  o^i^ 
towards  another,  Jesus  were  he  alive  at  this  day,  would 
recommend  you  to  come  out  of  your  churches  of  faith, 
and  to  gather  into  schools  of  knowledge.  Methinks  he 
would  enquire  ii^l^  the  use  of  all  the  large  buildings  yga 


148  OPINIONS.  [lECT.  VI. 

are  now  raising,  for  the  only  purpose  of  collecting"  there 
once  a  week  in  groups  of  sectarians,  and  this  again,  for 
the  only  object  of  learning  what  we  are  all  too  much  dis- 
posed to  believe  already — viz. :  that  we  are  each  of  us  in 
the  right,  and  that  all  others  are  in  the  wrong.  Methinks, 
I  say,  that  Jesus  would  recommend  you  to  pass  the  first 
day  of  the  week  rather  otherwise  than  you  pass  it  now, 
and  to  seek  some  other  mode  of  bettering  the  morals  of 
the  community  than  by  constraining  each  other  to  look 
grave  on  a  Sunday,  and  to  consider  yourselves  more  virtu- 
ous in  proportion  to  the  idleness  in  which  you  pass  one 
day  in  seven,  and  to  the  length  of  the  doctrinal  creed  you 
allow  your  spiritual  instructors  to  sign  for  you. 

The  importance  attached  to  opinions  and  formal  obser- 
vances of  days  and  ceremonies  by  all  Christian  sects,  is 
truly  surprising,  when  we  consider  that  Jesus,  so  far  as 
tradition  informs  us,  never  wrote  a  line,  never  framed  a 
creed,  condemned  all  prayers  in  public,  and  taught  his 
disciples  to  "  love  one  another,"  which  was  as  much  as  to 
say — never  discuss  opinions.  Now  those  who  profess  to 
follow  him,  discuss  Uttle  else  but  opinions,  and  therefore 
do  little  else  but  quarrel.  To  think  this  way,  or  to  think 
that  way,  constitutes  the  whole  duty  of  man. 

—  My  friends,  I  am  no  Christian,  in  the  sense  usually 
■  attached  to  the  word.  I  am  neither  Jew  nor  Gentile, 
Mahomedan  nor  Theist ;  I  am  but  a  member  of  the  human 
family,  and  would  accept  of  truth  by  whomsoever  offered — 
that  truth  which  we  can  all  find,  if  we  will  but  seek  it — 
in  things,  not  in  words  ;  in  nature,  not  in  human 
imagination ;  in  our  own  hearts,  not  in  temples  made  with 
\     hands. 

^'.  Fain  would  I  see  my  fellow  creatures  in  pursuit  of  that 
truth  which  is  around,  and  about,  and  within  us.  Fain 
would  I  see  them  burying  their  opinions  in  their  own 


LECT.  VI.]  OPINIONS.  149 

bosoms,  and  uniting  for  the  study  of  facts  and  a  knowledge 
of  themselves.  Many  evils  are  abroad  on  the  earth,  and 
never  did  supineness  threaten  greater  dangers  than  at  the 
present  moment.  Old  superstitions  are  shaken  to  their 
foundation.  The  false  restraints  imagined  in  ages  of  pri- 
meval ignorance  are  loosened  from  the  mind.  Men  have 
grown  out  of  the  fear  of  devils  and  eternal  brimstone,  and, 
applying  their  ingenuity  to  evade  the  laws  of  earth,  laugh 
in  secret  at  the  hobgoblin  tales  of  hell.  What  then  must 
ensue,  if,  while  old  things  are  passing  away,  we  seek  not  to 
discover  new  ?  If,  while  the  chains  of  superstition  are 
falling  from  the  mind,  we  build  not  up  therein  a  moral 
bulwark,  nobly  to  replace  the  Gothic  barriers  that  are 
withdrawn,  nor  apply  ourselves  to  lead  by  persuasion  and  ^_  ^ 

conviction  that  nature  which  may  be  no  longer  cowed  5^ 

by  superstition,  nor  mastered  by  force  ?  Man  is  no  longer 
in  leading-strings,  nor  submissive  to  the  rod.  He  is  at 
this  hour  too  knowing  to  be  driven,  and  too  ignorant  to 
walk  alone.  Let  a  free  people  look  to  it  in  time,  nor 
waiting,  until  law  and  religion  are  aUke  under  foot,  they 
shall  have  to  devise  remedies  in  the  midst  of  confusion, 
and  to  school  the  human  mind  and  the  human  heart  in 
the  depths  of  their  corruption.  Enough  hath  been  said — 
the  path  lies  clear.  Yirtue  and  truth  dwell  only  with 
knowledge,  and  as,  when  a  people  shall  possess  knowledge, 
they  will  form  on  all  subjects  just  opinions,  so  will  they 
also,  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  as  citizens,  parents,  and 
fellow  creatures,  discover  and  pursue  a  just  practice. 
N  2 


-1' 


JLECTURE  VII. 


¥ 


ON  EXISTING  EVILS,  AND  THEIR  REMEDY. 

[As  delivered  in  Philadelphia,  June  2d,  1829.] 

Having  now  traced  with  you  what  knowledge  is  in 
matter  and  in  mind ;  what  virtue  is  in  human  conduct, 
where  its  rules  are  to  be  sought,  and  how  they  may  be 
found ;  tested,  by  the  standard  thus  supplied,  the  ruling 
topic  of  discussion  and  instruction  throughout  this  country ; 
shown  that,  while  this  topic  subtracts  from  the  wealth  of 
the  nation  twenty  miUions  per  annum,  and  from  the  hearts 
and  minds  of  the  people  social  fellowship  and  common 
sense,  it  has  in  nature  no  real  existence — is  not  know- 
ledge, but  only  imagination — is  not  fact,  but  only  theory ; 
and,  having  shown,  moreover,  that  theory  can  supply  no 
subject  matter  of  instruction ;  that  the  teaching  of  opinions 
}s  as  erroneous  in  principle  as  it  is  dangerous  in  practice ; 
that  the  duty  of  the  instructor  is  simply  to  enrich  the  mind 
with  knowledge,  to  awaken  the  eye,  and  the  ear,  and  the 
touch,  to  the  perception  of  things,  the  judgment  to  their 
comparison  and  arrangement,  and  to  leave  the  free,  un- 
biassed mind  to  draw  its  own  conclusions  from  the  evi- 
dence thus  collected, — I  shall  now  present  a  few  ob- 
servations on  the  necessity  of  commencing,  and  gra- 
dually perfecting,  a  radical  reform  in  your  existing  out- 
lays of  time  and  money — on  and  in  churches,  theological 
colleges,  privileged  and  exclusive  seminaries  of  all  descrip- 
tions, rehgious  Sabbath  schools,  and  all  their  aids  and  ad- 
juncts of  Bibles,  tracts,  missionaries,  priests,  and  preachers, 


LECT.  VII.]  EXISTING  EVILS.  IH 

multiplied  and  multiplying  throughout  the  land,  until  they 
promise  to  absorb  more  capital  than  did  the  temple  of  Solo- 
mon, and  to  devour  more  of  the  first  fruits  of  industry  than 
did  the  tribe  of  Levi  in  the  plenitude  of  its  power ; — on  the 
necessity,  I  say,  of  substituting  for  your  present  cumbrous, 
expensive,  useless,  or  rather  pernicious,  system  of  partial, 
opinionative,  and  dogmatical  instruction,  one  at  once  na- 
tional, rational,  and  republican ;  one  which  shall  take  for 
its  study,  our  own  world  and  our  own  nature ;  for  its  object, 
the  improvement  of  man  ;  and  for  its  means,  the  practical 
development  of  truth,  the  removal  of  temptations  to  evil, 
and  the  gradual  equalization  of  human  condition,  human 
duties,  and  human  enjoyments,  by  the  equal  diffusion  of 
knowledge  without  distinction  of  class  or  sect — both  of 
which  distinctions  are  inconsistent  with  republican  institu- 
tions as  they  are  with  reason  and  with  common  sense, 
with  virtue  and  with  happiness. 

Time  is  it  in  this  land  to  commence  this  reform.  Time 
is  it  to  check  the  ambition  of  an  organized  clergy,  the  de- 
moraUzing  effects  of  a  false  system  of  law  ;  to  heal  the 
strife  fomented  by  sectarian  religion  and  legal  disputes ; 
to  bring  down  the  pride  of  ideal  wealth,  and  to  raise  honest 
industry  to  honor.  Time  is  it  to  search  out  the  misery  in 
the  land,  and  to  heal  it  at  the  source.  Time  is  it  to  re- 
member the  poor  and  the  afflicted,  ay!  and  the  vicious 
and  the  depraved.  Time  is  it  to  perceive  that  every  sor- 
row which  corrodes  the  human  heart,  every  vice  which 
diseases  the  body  and  the  mind,  every  crime  which  startles 
the  ear  and  sends  back  the  blood  affrighted  to  the  heart-^ 
is  the  product  of  one  evil,  the  foul  growth  from  one  root, 
the  distorted  progeny  of  one  corrupt  parent — Ignorance. 

Time  is  it  to  perceive  this  truth ;  to  proclaim  it  on  the 
housetop,  in  the  market  place,  in  city  and  forest,  through^ 
out  the  land;  to  acknowledge  it  in  the  depths  of  our 


169  EXISTING    EVILS.  [lECT.  VII. 

hearts,  and  to  apply  all  our  energies  to  the  adoption  of 
those  salutary  measures  which  this  salutary  truth  sponta- 
neously suggests.  Time  is  it,  I  say,  to  turn  our  churches 
into  halls  of  science,  our  schools  of  faith  into  schools  of 
knowledge,  our  privileged  colleges  into  state  institutions 
for  all  the  youth  of  the  land.  Time  is  it  to  arrest  our 
speculations  respecting  unseen  worlds  and  inconceivable 
mysteries,  and  to  address  our  enquiries  to  the  improvement 
of  our  human  condition,  and  our  efforts  to  the  practical 
illustration  of  those  beautiful  principles  of  hberty  and 
equaUty  enshrined  in  the  political  institutions,  and,  first 
and  chief,  in  the  national  declaration  of  independence. 

And  by  whom  and  how,  are  these  changes  to  be 
effected  ?  By  whom !  And  do  a  free  people  ask  the 
question  ?     By  themselves.     By  themselves — the  people, 

I  am  addressing  the  people  of  Philadelphia — the  people 
of  a  city  where  Jefferson  penned  the  glorious  declaration 
which  awoke  this  nation  and  the  world — the  city,  where 
the  larum  so  astounding  to  tyranny,  so  fraught  with  hope, 
and  joy,  and  exulting  triumph  to  humankind,  was  first 
sounded  in  the  ears  of  Americans.  I  speak  to  the  descen- 
dants of  those  men  who  heard  from  the  steps  of  their  old 
state  house  the  principles  of  hberty  and  equahty  first  pro- 
claimed to  man.  I  speak  to  the  inhabitants  of  a  city 
founded  by  the  most  peaceful,  the  most  humane,  and  the 
most  practical  of  all  Christian  sects.  I  speak  to  mechanics 
who  are  uniting  for  the  discovery  of  their  interests  and  the 
protection  of  their  rights.  I  speak  to  a  public  whose  bene- 
volence has  been  long  harrowed  by  increasing  pauperism, 
and  whose  social  order  and  social  happiness  are  threatened 
by  increasing  vice.  I  speak  to  sectarians  who  are  weary 
of  sectarianism.  I  speak  to  honest  men  who  tremble  for 
their  honesty.  I  speak  to  the  c^ishonest  whose  integrity 
has  fallen  before  the  discouragements  waiting  upon  indus- 


iECT.  VII.]  EXISTING    EVILS.  153 

try;  and  who,  by  slow  degrees,  or  in  moments  of  despera- 
tion, have  forsaken  honest  labor,  because  without  a  reward, 
for  fraudulent  speculation,  because  it  promised  one  chance 
of  success  to  a  thousand  chances  of  ruin.  I  speak  to 
parents  anxious  for  their  offspring — to  husbands  who, 
while  shortening  their  existence  by  excess  of  labor,  foresee, 
at  their  death,  not  sorrow  alone,  but  unrequited  industry 
and  hopeless  penury,  involving  shame,  and  perhaps  in- 
famy, for  their  oppressed  widows  and  unprotected  chil- 
dren. I  speak  to  human  beings  surrounded  by  human 
suffering — to  fellow  citizens  pledged  to  fellow  feeling — to 
republicans  pledged  to  equal  rights  and,  as  a  consequent, 
to  equal  condition  and  equal  enjoyments ;  and  I  call  them — 
oh,  would  that  my  voice  were  loud  to  reach  every  ear,  and 
persuasive  to  reach  every  heart ! — I  call  them  to  unite  ; 
and  to  unite  for  the  consideration  of  the  evils  around  us — 
for  the  discovery  and  application  of  their  remedy. 

Dreadful  has  been  the  distress  exhibited  during  the  past 
year,  not  in  this  city  only,  but  in  every  city  throughout 
the  whole  extent  of  this  vast  republic.  Long  had  the 
mass  of  evil  been  accumulated  ere  it  attracted  attention ; 
and,  would  we  understand  how  far  the  plague  spot  is  to 
spread,  or  what  is  to  be  its  termination,  we  must  look  to 
Europe. 

We  are  fast  travelling  in  the  footsteps  of  Europe,  my 
friends  ;  for  her  principles  of  action  are  ours.  We  have  in 
all  our  habits  and  usages  the  same  vices,  and,  with  these 
same  vices,  we  must  have,  as  we  see  we  have,  the  same  evils. 

The  great  principles  stamped  in  America's  declaration  of 
independence  are  true,  are  great,  are  sublime,  and  are  all 
her  own.  But  her  usages,  her  law,  her  reUgion,  her  edu- 
cation, are  false,  narrow,  prejudiced,  ignorant,  and  are  the 
rehc  of  dark  ages — the  gift  and  bequeathment  of  king- 
governed,  priest-ridden  nations,  whose  supremacy,  indeed, 


164  EXISTING    EVILS.  [lECT.  VII. 

the  people  of  America  have  challenged  and  overthrown, 
but  whose  example  they  are  still  following. 

A  foreigner,  I  have  looked  round  on  this  land  unblinded 
by  local  prejudices  or  national  predilections ;  a  friend  to 
humankind,  zealous  for  human  improvement,  enamored 
to  enthusiasm,  if  you  will,  of  human  liberty,  I  first  sought 
this  country  to  see  in  operation  those  principles  conse- 
crated in  her  national  institutions,  and  whose  simple 
grandeur  had  fired  the  enthusiasm  and  cheered  the  heart 
of  my  childhood,  disgusted  as  it  was  with  the  idle  parade 
and  pride  of  unjust  power  inherent  in  European  aristo- 
cracy. DeUghted  with  the  sound  of  political  hberty,  the 
•absence  of  bayonets  and  constrained  taxation,  I  spake  and 
published,  as  I  felt,  in  praise  of  American  institutions ; 
and  called,  and,  I  believe,  first  generally  awakened,  the 
attention  of  the  European  public  to  their  study  and  appre- 
ciation. 

Disappointed,  in  common  with  all  the  friends  of  liberty 
in  Europe,  by  the  issue  of  the  well  imagined,  but  ill  sus- 
tained, revolutions  of  the  old  continent,  which  closed, 
as  you  will  remember,  by  the  triumph  of  France  and  the 
holy  alliance  over  the  bands  of  Riego  and  Mina  in  Spain, 
I  returned  to  this  republic  as  to  the  last  hope  of  the  human 
family,  anxious  to  inspect  it  through  its  wide  extent,  and 
to  study  it  in  all  its  details. 

The  result  of  my  observation  has  been  the  conviction, 
that  the  reform  commenced  at  the  revolution  of  '76  has 
been  but  little  improved  through  the  term  of  years  which 
have  succeeded ;  that  the  national  policy  of  the  country 
was  then  indeed  changed,  but  that  its  social  economy  has 
remained  such  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  its  European  vas- 
salage. 

In  confirmation  of  this,  I  will  request  you  to  observe, 
that  your  religion  is  the  same  as  that  of  monarchical 


LECT.  VII.]  EXISTING    EVILS.  155 

England — ^taught  from  the  same  books,  and  promulgated 
•  and  sustained  by  similar  means,  viz.  a  salaried  priesthood, 
set  apart  from  the  people ;  sectarian  churches,  in  whose 
property  the  people  have  no  share,  and  over  whose  use 
and  occupancy  the  people  have  no  control ;  expensive  mis- 
sions, treasury  frmds,  associations,  and,  above  all,  a  com- 
pulsory power,  compounded  at  once  of  accumulated 
wealth,  established  custom,  extensive  correspondence,  and 
a  system  of  education  imbued  with  its  spirit  and  all  per- 
vaded by  its  influence. 

Again — in  proof  of  the  similarity  between  your  inter- 
nal poUcy  and  that  of  monarchical  England,  I  will  request 
you  to  observe  that  her  law  is  your  law.  Every  part 
and  parcel  of  that  absurd,  cruel,  ignorant,  inconsistent,  in- 
comprehensible jumble,  styled  the  common  law  of  Eng- 
land— every  part  and  parcel  of  it,  I  say,  not  abrogated  or 
altered  expressly  by  legislative  statutes,  which  has  been 
very  rarely  done,  is  at  this  hour  the  law  of  revolutionized 
America. 

Farther — in  proof  of  the  identity  of  your  fabric  of  civil 
polity  with  that  of  aristocratical  England,  I  will  request 
you  to  observe  that  the  system  of  education  pursued  in  both 
countries  is,  with  little  variations,  one  and  the  same.  There, 
you  have  endowed  universities,  privileged  by  custom,  en- 
riched by  ancient  royal  favor,  protected  by  parliamentary 
statutes,  and  devoted  to  the  upholding,  perpetuating,  and 
strengthening  the  power  and  privilege  to  which  they  owe 
their  origin.  There,  too,  you  have  parish  schools  under 
the  control  of  the  parish  priest,  and  a  press  every  where 
coerced  by  law,  swayed,  bribed,  or  silenced  by  ascendant 
parties  or  tyrannous  authority.  And  here  have  we  not 
colleges  with  endowments  still  held  by  the  royal  charters 
which  first  bestowed  them,  and  colleges  with  lands  and 
money  gianted  by  American  legislatures — ^not  for  the  ad- 


1M  EXISTING    EVILS.  [lECT.  VII. 

vantage  of  the  American  people,  but  for  that  of  their 
rulers;   for  the  children  of  privileged  professions  upon* 
whom  is  thus  entailed  the  privilege  of  their  fathers,  and 
that  as  certainly  as  the  son  of  a  duke  is  born  to  a  duke- 

-^  dom  in  England.  Here  have  we  not  also  schools  con- 
trolled by  the  clergy ;  nay,  have  we  not  all  our  public  in- 
stitutions, scientific,  literary,  judicial,  or  humane,  ridden  by 
the  spirit  of  orthodoxy ;  and  invaded,  perverted,  vitiated, 

^  and  tormented  by  opinionative  distinctions?  And  here  have 
w^e  not  a  press  paralized  by  fear,  disgraced  by  party,  and 
ruled  by  loud  tongued  fanaticism,  or  aspiring  and  threaten- 

-  ing  sectarian  ambition.  And  more,  my  friends,  see  we 
not,  in  this  nation  of  confederated  freemen,  as  many  dis- 
tinctions of  class  as  afflict  the  aristocracies  of  Britain,  or 
the  despotism  of  the  Russias ;  and  more  distinctions  of 
sect  than  ever  cursed  all  the  nations  of  Europe  together, 
from  the  preaching  of  Peter  the  hermit,  to  the  trances  of 
Madame  Krudner,  or  the  miracles  of  Prince  Hohenlohe  ? 
Surely  all  these  are  singular  anomalies  in  a  republic. 

-^  Sparta,  when  she  conceived  her  democracy,  commenced 
with  educational  equality ;  when  she  aimed  at  national 
union,  she  cemented  that  union  in  childhood — at  the  pub- 
he  board,  m  the  gymnasium,  in  the  temple,  in  the  common 
habits,  common  feelings,  common  duties,  and  common  con- 
dition. And  so,  notwithstanding  all  the  errors  with  which 
her  mstitutions  were  fraught,  and  all  the  vices  which 
arose  out  of  those  errors,  did  she  present  for  ages,  a  won- 
drous sample  of  democratic  union,  and  consequently  of 
national  prosperity  ? 

~]~      What,  then,  is  wanted  here  ?  What  Sparta  had — a  nor 
'    tional  education.     And  what  Sparta,  in  many  respects, 

had  not — a  rational  education. 

Hitherto,  my  friends,  in  government  as  in  every  branch 
of  morals,  we  have  but  too  much  mistaken  words  for  truths, 


f 


LECT.  VII.]  EXISTING   EVILS.  167 

and  forms  for  principles.  To  render  men  free,  it  sufficeth 
not  to  proclaim  their  liberty;  to  make  them  equal,  it 
sufficeth  not  to  call  them  so.  True,  the  4th  of  July,  '76, 
commenced  a  new  era  for  our  race.  True,  the  sun  of  pro- 
mise then  rose  upon  the  world.  But  let  us  not  mistake 
for  the  fulness  of  light  what  was  but  its  harbinger.  Let 
us  not  conceive  that  man  in  signing  the  declaration  of  his 
rights  secured  their  possession ;  that  having  framed  the 
theory,  he  had  not,  and  hath  not  still,  the  practice  to  seek. 

Your  fathers,  indeed,  on  the  day  from  which  dates  your 
existence  as  a  nation,  opened  the  gates  of  the  temple  of 
human  liberty.  But  think  not  they  entered,  nor  that  you 
have  entered  the  sanctuary.  They  passed  not,  nor  have 
you  passed,  even  the  threshold. 

Who  speaks  of  liberty  while  the  human  mind  is  in 
chains?  Who  of  equality  while  the  thousands  are  in 
squalid  wretchedness,  the  millions  harrassed  with  health- 
destroying  labor,  the  few  afflicted  with  health-destroying 
idleness,  and  all  tormented  by  health-destroying  solicitude? 
Look  abroad  on  the  misery  which  is  gaining  on  the  land  ! 
Mark  the  strife,  and  the  discord,  and  the  jealousies,  the 
shock  of  interests  and  opinions,  the  hatreds  of  sect,  the 
estrangements  of  class,  the  pride  of  wealth,  the  debasement 
of  poverty,  the  helplessness  of  youth  unprotected,  of  age 
uncomforted,  of  industry  unrewarded,  of  ignorance  unen- 
lightened, of  vice  unreclaimed,  of  misery  unpitied,  of 
sickness,  hunger,  and  nakedness  unsatisfied,  unalleviated, 
and  unheeded.  Go !  mark  all  the  wrongs  and  the  wretch- 
edness with  which  the  eye  and  the  ear  and  the  heart  are 
familiar,  and  then  echo  in  triumph  and  celebrate  in  jubilee 
the  insulting  declaration — all  men  are  free  and  equal! 

That  evils  exist,  none  that  have  eyes,  ears,  and  hearts, 
can  dispute.     That  these  evils  are  on  the  uicrease,  none 
who  have  watched  the  fluctuations  of  trade,  the  sinking 
o 


158  EXISTING  EVILS.  [leCT.  VII. 

price  of  labor,  the  growth  of  pauperism,  and  the  increase 
of  crime,  will  dispute.  Little  need  be  said  here  to  the 
people  of  Philadelphia.  The  researches  made  by  the 
pubUc  spirited  among  their  own  citizens,  have  but  too  well 
substantiated  the  suffering  condition  of  a  large  mass  of 
their  population.  In  Boston,  in  New- York,  in  Baltimore, 
the  voice  of  distress  hath,  in  like  manner,  burst  the  bar- 
riers raised,  and  so  long  sustained,  by  the  pride  of  honest 
industry,  unused  to  ask  from  charity  what  it  hath  been 
wont  to  earn  by  the  sweat  of  the  brow.  In  each  and  every 
city  necessity  has  constrained  enquiry ;  and  in  each  and 
every  city  enquiry  has  eUcited  the  same  appalling  facts  : 
that  the  hardest  labor  is  often  without  a  reward  adequate 
to  the  sustenance  of  the  laborer ;  that  when,  by  over  exer- 
tion and  all  the  diseases,  and  often  vices,  which  excess  of 
exertion  induces,  the  laborer,  whose  patient,  sedulous  in- 
dustry suppUes  the  community  with  all  its  comforts,  and 
the  rich  with  all  their  luxuries — when  he,  I  say,  is  brought 
to  an  untimely  grave  by  those  exertions  which,  while  sus- 
taining the  life  of  others,  cut  short  his  own — when  he  is 
mowed  down  by  that  labor  whose  products  form  the  boasted 
wealth  of  the  state,  he  leaves  a  family,  to  whom  the 
strength  of  his  manhood  had  barely  furnished  bread,  to 
lean  upon  the  weakness  of  a  soul-stricken  mother,  and 
hurry  her  to  the  grave  of  her  father. 

Such  is  the  information  gleaned  from  the  report  of  the 
committee  lately  appointed  by  the  town  meeting  of  the 
city  and  county  of  Philadelphia,  and  as  verbatun  reitera- 
ted in  every  populous  city  throughout  the  land.  And  what 
are  the  remedies  suggested  by  our  corporation,  our  news- 
paper editors,  our  rehgious  societies,  our  tracts,  and  our 
sermons  1  Some  have  ordained  fasts,  multipUed  prayers, 
and  recommended  pious  submission  to  a  Providence  who 
should  have  instituted  all  this  calamity  for  the  purpose  of 


LECT.  VII.]  EXISTING   EVILS.  159 

fulfilling  the  words  of  a  Jewish  prophet,  "  the  poor  shall 
never  cease  from  the  land."  Some,  less  spiritual-minded, 
have  called  for  larger  jails  and  more  poor  houses ;  some, 
for  increased  poor  rates  and  additional  benevolent  societies  j 
others,  for  compulsory  laws  protective  of  labor,  and  fixing 
a  minimum^  below  which  it  shall  be  penal  to  reduce  it ; 
while  others,  and  those  not  the  least  able  to  appreciate  all 
the  difficulties  of  the  question,  have  sought  the  last  re- 
source of  suffering  poverty  and  oppressed  industry  in  the 
humanity  and  sense  of  justice  of  the  wealthier  classes  of 
society. 

This  last  is  the  forlorn  hope  presented  in  the  touching 
document  signed  by  Matthew  Carey  and  his  fellow  la- 
borers. 

It  were  easy  to  observe,  in  reply  to  each  and  all  of  the 
palliatives  variously  suggested  for  evils,  which  none  pro- 
fess to  remedy,  that  to  punish  crime  when  committed  is  not 
to  prevent  its  commission ;  to  force  the  work  of  the  poor 
in  poor  houses  is  only  farther  to  glut  an  already  unproduc- 
tive market ;  to  multiply  charities  is  only  to  increase  pau- 
perism ;  that  to  fix  by  statute  the  monied  price  of  labor 
would  be  impossible  in  itself,  and,  if  possible,  mischievous 
no  less  to  the  laborer  than  to  the  employer;  and  that,  under 
the  existing  state  of  things,  for  human  beings  to  lean  upon 
the  compassion  and  justice  of  their  fellow  creatmes,  is  to 
lean  upon  a  rotten  reed. 

I  believe  no  individual,  possessed  of  common  sense  and 
common  feeling,  can  have  studied  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee to  which  I  have  referred,  or  the  multitude  of  simi- 
lar documents  furnished  elsewhere,  without  acknowledg- 
ing that  reform,  and  that  not  shght  nor  partial,  but  radical 
and  universal,  is  called  for.  AU  must  admit  that  no  such 
reform — ^that  is,  that  no  remedy  commensurate  with  the 
evil,  has  been  suggested,  and  would  we  but  reflect,  we 


160  EXISTING    EVILS.  [lECT.  VII. 

-—.should  perceive  that  no  efficient  remedy  can  be  suggest- 
ed, or  if  suggested,  applied,  until  the  people  are  generally- 
engaged  in  its  discovery  and  its  appUcation  for  themselves. 
In  this  nation,  any  more  than  in  any  other  nation,  the 
mass  has  never  reflected  for  the  mass ;  the  people,  as  a 
body,  have  never  addressed  themselves  to  the  study  of  their 
own  condition,  and  to  the  just  and  fair  interpretation  of 
their  conmion  intersts.  And,  as  it  was  with  their  na- 
tional independence,  so  shall  it  be  with  their  national  hap- 
piness— it  shall  be  found  only  when  the  mass  shall  seek  it. 
No  people  have  ever  received  hberty  in  gift.  Given,  it 
were  not  appreciated  ;  it  were  not  understood.  Won  with- 
out exertion,  it  were  lost  as  readily.  Let  the  people  of 
America  recal  the  ten  years  of  war  and  tribulation  by 
which  they  purchased  their  national  independence.  Let 
efforts  as  strenuous  be  now  made,  not  with  the  sword  of 
steel,  indeed,  but  with  the  sword  of  the  spirit,  and  their 
farther  enfranchisement  from  poverty,  starvation,  and  de- 
pendence, must  be  equally  successful. 

Great  reforms  are  not  wrought  in  a  day.  Evils  which 
are  the  accumulated  results  of  accumulated  errors,  are  not 
*•  to  be  struck  down  at  a  blow  by  the  rod  of  a  magician.  A 
free  people  may  boast  that  all  power  is  in  their  hands  ;  but 
no  effectual  power  can  be  in  their  hands  until  knowledge 
be  in  their  minds. 

But  how  may  knowledge  be  imparted  to  their  minds  ? 
^^  Such  effective  knowledge  as  shall  render  apparent  to  all 
the  interests  of  aU,  and  demonstrate  the  simple  truths — 
that  a  nation  to  be  strong,  must  be  imited  ;  to  be  united, 
must  be  equal  in  condition  ;  to  be  equal  in  condition,  must 
be  similar  in  habits  and  in  feehng ;  to  be  similar  in  habits 
and  in  feeling,  must  he  raised  in  national  institutions^ 
cbs  the  children  of  a  common  family ,  and  citizens  of  a 
L        eo9mfion  country. 


LECT.  VII.]  EXISTING    EVILS.  t^} 

Before  entering  on  the  developement  of  the  means  I 
have  here  suggested  for  paving  our  way  to  the  reforni  of 
those  evils  which  now  press  upon  humanity,  and  which, 
carried,  perhaps,  to  their  acme  in  some  of  the  nations  of 
Europe,  are  gaining  ground  in  these  United  States  with  a 
rapidity  alarming  to  all  who  know  how  to  read  the  present, 
or  to  calculate  the  future — I  must  observe,  that  I  am  fully 
aware  of  the  difficulty  of  convincing  all  minds  of  the 
urgency  of  these  evils,  and  of  the  impossibility  of  en- 
gaging all  classes  in  the  apphcation  of  their  remedy. 

In  the  first  place,  the  popular  suffering,  great  as  it  is, 
weighs  not  with  a  sufficiently  equal  pressure  on  all  part^ 
of  the  country  ;  and,  in  the  second,  affects  not  equally  all 
classes  of  the  population,  so  as  to  excite  to  that  union  of 
exertion,  which  once  made,  the  reform  is  effected  and  the 
nation  redeemed. 

While  the  evil  day  is  only  in  prospect,  or  while  it  visits 
our  neighbor  but  spares  ourselves,  such  is  the  selfishness 
generated  by  existing  habits,  and  such  the  supineness 
generated  by  that  selfishness,  that  we  are  but  too  prone  to 
shrink  from  every  effort  not  absolutely  and  immediately 
necessary  for  the  supply  of  our  own  wants  or  the  increase 
of  our  own  luxuries.  Yet,  would  the  most  spoiled  child  of 
worldly  fortune  but  look  around  him  on  the  changes  and 
chances  which  ofttimes  sweep  away  the  best  secured  trea- 
sures, and  bring  in  a  moment  the  capitahst  to  bankruptcy, 
and  his  family  to  want,  he  could  not  feel  himself  entirely 
removed  in  sympathy  from  the  suffering  portion  of  his 
fellow  creatures.  But  let  us  take  the  case  of  the  thriving 
artizan,  or  successful  merchant — on  what  security  does  he 
hold  that  pecuniary  independence  which  puts  the  bread 
into  the  mouths  of  his  children,  and  protects  from  destitu- 
tion the  companion  of  his  bosom  7  On  sustained  industry 
and  unremitting  exertions,  which  siclaiess  may  interrupt, 
o2  21 


EXISTING    EVILS.  [lECT.  VII. 

a  fall  in  the  market  reduce  to  half  its  value,  or  a  few  casual- 
ties or  one  miscalculation  in  a  moment  annihilate.  Or 
what  if  death  finally  internipt  the  father's  care  or  the 
husband's  tenderness — where  is  the  stay  for  his  orphan 
children  ?  where  succor  for  their  widowed  mother,  now 
charged  alone  with  all  the  weight  of  their  provision  ?  I 
have  taken  no  extreme  cases  ;  I  have  taken  such  as  may, 
in  the  course  of  events,  be  the  case  of  every  man  who 
hears  me. 

Were  it  my  disposition,  which,  I  think,  it  is  not,  to  ex- 
aggerate evils,  or  were  I  even  disposed  to  give  a  fair  pic- 
ture of  those  really  existing  among  a  large  mass  of  the 
American  population,  more  especially  as  crowded  into  the 
cities  and  manufacturing  districts,  easy  it  were  to  harrow 
the  feelings  of  the  least  sensitive,  and,  in  the  relation,  to 
harrow  my  own. 

But  aa  the  measure  it  is  my  object  this  evening  to  sug- 
gest to  the  people  of  Philadelphia,  and  my  intention 
hereafter  to  submit  to  the  whole  American  nation,  must,  at 
the  first  sight,  win  to  its  support  the  more  oppressed  and 
afflicted,  I  am  rather  desirous  of  addressing  my  prefatory 
argiunents  to  that  class  from  whence  opposition  is  most  to 
be  apprehended. 

I  know  how  difficult  it  is — ^reared  as  we  all  are  in  the 
distinctions  of  class,  to  say  nothing  of  sect,  to  conceive  of 
our  interests  as  associated  with  those  of  the  whole  commu- 
nity. The  man  possessed  of  a  dollar,  feels  himself  to  be, 
not  merely  one  hundred  cents  richer,  but  also  one  hundred 
cents  better^  than  the  man  who  is  pennyless ;  so  on  through 
all  the  gradations  of  earthly  possessions — the  estimate  of 
our  own  moral  and  political  importance  swelling  ahvays 
m  a  ratio  exactly  proportionate  to  the  growth  of  our  purse. 
The  rich  man  who  can  leave  a  clear  independence  to  his 
children,  is  given  to  estimate  them  as  he  estimates  him- 


LECT.  VII.]  EXISTING    EVILS.  163 

self,  and  to  imagine  something  in  their  nature  distinct 
from  that  of  the  less  privileged  heirs  of  hard  labor  and 
harder  fare. 

This  might  indeed  appear  too  gross  for  any  of  us  to 
advance  in  theory,  but  in  feeling  how  many  must  plead 
guilty  to  the  prejudice !  Yet  is  there  a  moment  when, 
were  their  thoughts  known  to  each  other,  all  men  must 
feel  themselves  on  a  level.  It  is  when  as  fathers  they 
look  on  their  children,  and  picture  the  possibiUty  which 
may  render  them  orphans,  and  then  calculate  all  the 
casualties  which  may  deprive  them,  if  rich,  of  their  in- 
heritance, or,  if  poor,  grind  them  down  to  deeper  poverty. 

But  it  is  first  to  the  rich,  I  would  speak.  Can  the  man 
of  opulence  feel  tranquil  imder  the  prospect  of  leaving  to 
such  guardianship  as  existing  law  or  individual  integrity 
may  supply,  the  minds,  bodies,  morals,  or  even  the  fortune 
of  their  children  ?  I  myself  was  an  orphan  ;  and  I  know 
that  the  very  law  which  was  my  protector,  sucked  away 
a  portion  of  my  little  inheritance,  while  that  law,  insuffi- 
cient and  avaricious  as  it  was,  alone  shielded  me  from 
spoliation  by  my  guardian.  I  know,  too,  that  my  youtL^ 
was  one  of  tribulation,  albeit  passed  in  the  envied  luxuries 
of  aristocracy.  I  know  that  the  orphan's  bread  may  be 
watered  with  tears,  even  when  the  worst  evil  be  not 
there — dependence. 

Can,  then,  the  rich  be  without  solicitude,  when  they 
leave  to  the  mercy  of  a  heartless  world  the  beings  of  their 
creation?  Who  shall  cherish  their  young  sensibilities? 
Who  shall  stand  between  them  and  oppression?  Who 
shall  whisper  peace  in  the  hour  of  affliction  ?  Who  shall 
supply  principle  in  the  horn*  of  temptation  ?  Who  shall 
lead  the  tender  mind  to  distinguish  between  the  good  and 
the  evil  ?  Who  shall  fortify  it  against  the  corruptions  of 
w^ealth,  or  prepare  it  for  the  day  of  adversity?  Such,  look- 


164  EXISTING    EVILS.  [lECT.  VII. 

ing  upon  life  as  it  is,  must  be  the  anxious  thoughts  even 
of  the  wealthy.  What  must  be  the  thoughts  of  the  poor 
man,  it  needs  not  that  we  should  picture. 

But,  my  friends,  however  differing  in  degree  may  be 
the  anxiety  of  the  rich  and  the  poor,  still,  in  its  nature,  is 
it  the  same.  Doubt,  uncertainty,  apprehension,  are  before 
all.  We  hear  of  deathbed  affliction.  My  friends,  I  have 
been  often  and  long  on  the  bed  of  mortal  sickness  :  no  fear 
had  the  threatened  last  sleep  for  me,  for  I  was  not  a  parent. 

We  have  here,  then,  found  an  evil  common  to  all 
classes,  and  one  that  is  entailed  from  generation  to  gene- 
ration. The  measure  I  am  about  to  suggest,  whenever 
adopted,  will  blot  this  now  universal  affliction  from  exis- 
tence; it  will  also,  in  the  outset,  alle\nate  those  popular 
distresses  whose  poignancy  and  rapid  increase  weigh  on 
the  heart  of  philanthropy,  and  crush  the  best  hopes  of 
enlightened  patriotism.  It  must  further,  when  carried  in- 
to ftill  effect,  work  the  radical  cure  of  every  disease  which 
now  afflicts  the  body  politic,  and  build  up  for  this  nation  a 
sound  constitution,  embracing  at  once,  pubhc  prosperity, 
individual  integrity,  and  universal  happiness. 

This  measure,  my  friends,  has  been  long  present  to  my 
mind,  as  befitting  the  adoption  of  the  American  people  ; 
as  alone  calculated  to  form  an  enlightened,  a  virtuous,  and 
a  happy  community;  as  alone  capable  of  supplying  a 
remedy  to  the  evils  under  which  we  groan ;  as  alone  com- 
mensurate with  the  interests  of  the  human  family,  and 
consistent  with  the  pohtical  institutions  of  this  great  con- 
federated republic. 

I  had  occasion  formerly  to  observe,  in  allusion  to  the 
eflforts  already  made,  and  yet  making,  in  the  cause  of 
popular  instruction,  more  or  less  throughout  the  Union, 
that,  as  yet,  the  true  principle  has  not  been  hit,  and  that 
until  it  be  hit,  all  reform  must  be  slow  and  inefficient. 


LECT.  VII.]  EXISTING    EVILS.  165 

The  noble  example  of  New-England  has  been  imitated 
by  other  states,  until  all  not  possessed  of  common  schools 
blush  for  the  popular  remissness.  But,  after  all,  how  can 
common  schools,  under  their  best  form,  and  in  fullest 
supply,  effect  even  the  purpose  which  they  have  in  view? 

The  object  proposed  by  conmion  schools  (if  I  rightly 
understand  it)  is  to  impart  to  the  whole  population  those 
means  for  the  acquirement  of  knowledge  which  are  in 
common  use :  reading  and  writing.  To  these  are  added 
arithmetic,  and  occasionally,  perhaps,  some  imperfect  les- 
sons in  the  simpler  sciences.  But  I  would  ask,  supposing 
these  institutions  should  even  be  made  to  embrace  all  the 
branches  of  intellectual  knowledge,  and,  thus,  science 
offered  gratis  to  all  the  children  of  the  land,  how  are  the 
children  of  the  very  class,  for  whom  we  suppose  the  schools 
instituted,  to  be  supplied  with  food  and  raiment,  or  in- 
structed in  the  trade  necessary  to  their  future  subsistence, 
while  they  are  following  these  studies  ?  How  are  they,  I 
ask,  to  be  fed  and  clothed,  when,  as  all  facts  show,  the 
labor  of  the  parents  is  often  insufficient  for  their  own  sus- 
tenance, and,  almost  universally,  inadequate  to  the  pro- 
vision of  the  family  without  the  united  efforts  of  all  its 
members?  In  your  manufarturing  districts  you  have 
children  worked  for  twelve  hours  a  day ;  and,  in  the  rapid 
and  certain  progress  of  the  existing  system,  you  will  soon 
have  them,  as  in  England,  ivorked  to  death,  and  yet 
unable,  through  the  period  of  their  miserable  existence,  to 
earn  a  pittance  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  hunger. 
At  this  present  time,  what  leisure  or  what  spirit,  think 
you,  have  the  children  of  the  miserable  widows  of  Phila- 
delphia, realizing,  according  to  the  most  favorable  estimate 
of  your  city  and  county  committee,  sixteen  dollars  per 
annum,  for  food  and  clothing?  what  leisure  or  what  spirit 
may  their  children  find  for  visiting  a  school,  although  the 


166  EXISTING  EVILS.  [lECT.  VII. 

same  should  be  open  to  them  from  smirise  to  sunset  ?  Or 
what  leisure  have  usually  the  children  of  your  most 
thriving  mechanics,  after  their  strength  is  sufficiently  de- 
veloped to  spin,  sew,  weave,  or  wield  a  tool  ?  It  seems  to 
me,  my  friends,  that  to  build  school  houses  now-a-days  is 
something  hke  building  churches.  When  you  have  them, 
you  need  some  measure  to  ensure  their  being  occupied. 

But,  as  our  time  is  short,  and  myself  somewhat  fatigued 
by  continued  exertions,  I  must  hasten  to  the  rapid  de- 
velopement  of  the  system  of  instruction  and  protection 
which  has  occurred  to  me  as  capable,  and  alone  capable, 
of  opening  the  door  to  universal  reform. 
"^  In  heu  of  all  common  schools,  high  schools,  colleges, 
seminaries,  houses  of  refuge,  or  any  other  juvenile  institu- 
tion, instructional  or  protective,  I  would  suggest  that  the 
state  legislatures  be  directed  (after  laying  off  the  whole  in 
townships  or  hundreds)  to  organize,  at  suitable  distances, 
and  in  convenient  and  healthy  situations,  estabUshments 
for  the  general  reception  of  all  the  children  resident  within 
the  said  school  district.  These  establishments  to  be  de- 
voted, severally,  to  children  between  a  certain  age.  Say, 
the  first,  infants  between  two  and  four,  or  two  and  six, 
according  to  the  density  of  the  population,  and  such  other 
local  circumstances  as  might  render  a  greater  or  less  num- 
ber of  establishments  necessary  or  practicable.  The  next 
to  receive  children  from  four  to  eight,  or  six  to  twelve 
years.  The  next  from  twelve  to  sixteen,  or  to  an  older 
age  if  foimd  desirable.  Each  estabhshment  to  be  fur- 
nished with  instructors  in  every  branch  of  knowledge, 
intellectual  and  operative,  with  all  the  apparatus,  land,  and 
conveniences  necessary  for  the  best  developement  of  all 
knowledge ;  the  same,  whether  operative  or  inteilectual, 
being  always  calculated  to  the  age  and  strength  of  the 
pupils. 


LECT.  VII.]  EXISTING  EVILS.  167 

To  obviate,  in  the  commencement,  every  evil  result 
possible  from  the  first  mixture  of  a  young  population,  so 
variously  raised  in  error  or  neglect,  a  due  separation 
should  be  made  in  each  establishment ;  by  which  means 
those  entering  with  bad  habits  would  be  kept  apart  from 
the  others  until  corrected.  How  rapidly  reform  may  be 
effected  on  the  plastic  disposition  of  childhood,  has  been 
sufficiently  proved  in  your  houses  of  refuge,  more  espe- 
cially when  such  establishments  have  been  under  liberal 
superintendance,  as  was  formerly  the  case  in  New-York. 
Under  their  orthodox  directors,  those  asylums  of  youth 
have  been  converted  into  jails. 

It  will  be  understood  that,  in  the  proposed  establish- 
ments, the  children  would  pass  from  one  to  the  other  in 
regular  succession,  and  that  the  parents,  who  would  neces- 
sarily be  resident  in  their  close  neighborhood,  could  visit 
the  children  at  suitable  hours,  but,  in  no  case,  interfere 
with  or  interrupt  the  rules  of  the  institution. 

In  the  older  establishments,  the  well  directed  and  well 
protected  labor  of  the  pupil  would,  in  time,  suffice  for,  and, 
then,  exceed  their  own  support  ;  when  the  surplus  might 
be  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  the  infant  establish- 
ments. 

In  the  beginning,  and  until  all  debt  was  cleared  off, 
and  so  long  as  the  same  should  be  found  favorable  to  the 
promotion  of  these  best  palladiums  of  a  nation's  happi- 
ness, a  double  tax  might  be  at  once  expedient  and  pohtic. 

First,  a  moderate  tax  per  head  for  every  child,  to  be  laid 
upon  its  parents  conjointly,  or  divided  between  them,  due 
attention  being  always  paid  to  the  varying  strength  of  the 
two  sexes,  and  to  the  undue  depreciation  which  now  rests 
on  female  labor.  The  more  effectually  to  correct  the  lat- 
ter injustice,  as  well  as  to  consult  the  convenience  of  the 
industrious  classes  generally,  this  parental  tax  might  be 


168  EXISTING  EVILS.  [lECT.  VII. 

rendered  payable  either  in  money,  or  in  labor,  produce,  or 
domestic  manufactures,  and  shovild  be  continued  for  each 
child  until  the  age  when  juvenile  labor  should  be  found, 
on  the  average,  equivalent  to  the  educational  expenses, 
which,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  would  be  at  twelve  years. 

This  first  tax  on  parents  to  embrace  equally  the  whole 
population ;  as,  however  moderate,  it  would   inculcate  a 
certain  forethought  in  aU  the  human  family ;  more  espe- 
cially where  it  is  most  wanted — in  young  persons,  who, 
before  they  assumed  the  responsibility  of  parents,  would 
estimate  their  fitness  to  meet  it. 
-^    The  second  tax  to  be  on  property,  increasing  in  per 
N  centage  with  the  wealth  of  the  individual.     In  this  man- 
'  ner  I  conceive  the  rich  would  contribute,  according  to  their 
riches,  to  the  rehef  of  the  poor,  and  to  the  support  of  the 
state,  by  raising  up  its  best  bulwark — an  enhghtened  and 
united  generation. 

Preparatory  to,  or  connected  with,  such  measures,  a 
registry  should  be  opened  by  the  state,  with  offices  through 
all  the  townships,  where  on  the  birth  of  every  child,  or 
within  a  certain  time  appointed,  the  same  should  be  enter- 
ed, together  with  the  names  of  its  parents.  When  two 
years  old,  the  parental  tax  should  be  payable,  and  the 
juvenile  institution  open  for  the  child's  reception;  from 
which  time  forward  it  would  be  under  the  protective  care 
and  guardianship  of  the  state,  while  it  need  never  be  re- 
moved from  the  daily,  weekly,  or  frequent  inspection  of 
the  parents. 

Orphans,  of  course,  would  find  here  an  open  asylum. 
If  possessed  of  property,  a  contribution  would  be  paid 
firom  its  revenue  to  the  common  educational  fund  ;  if  un- 
provided, they  would  be  sustained  out  of  the  same. 

In  these  nurseries  of  a  free  nation,  no  inequality  must 
be  allowed  to  enter.     Fed  at  a  common  board  ;  clothed  in 


LECT  VII.]  EXISTING  EVILS.  16^  * 

a  common  garb,  uniting  neatness  with  simplicity  and  con- 
venience ;  raised  in  the  exercise  of  common  duties,  in  the 
acquirement  of  the  same  knowledge  and  practice  of  the. 
same  industry,  varied  only  according  to  individual  taste 
and  capabiUties ;  in  the  exercise  of  the  same  virtues,  m 
the  enjoyment  of  the  same  pleasures  ;  in  the  study  of  the 
same  nature ;  in  pursuit  of  the  same  object — their  owHI 
and  each  other's  happiness — say !  would  not  such  a  race, 
when  arrived  at  manhood  and  womanhood,  work  out  the 
reform  of  society — perfect  the  free  institutions  of  America  1 

I  have  drawn  but  a  sketch,  nor  could  I  presume  to 
draw  the  picture  of  that  which  the  mind's  eye  hath  seen 
alone,  and  which  it  is  for  the  people  of  this  land  to  reahze. 

In  this  sketch,  my  friends,  there  is  nothing  but  what  is 
practical  and  practicable ;  nothing  but  what  you  your- 
selves may  contribute  to  effect.  Let  the  popular  suffrage 
be  exercised  with  a  view  to  the  popular  good.  Let  the 
industrious  classes,  and  all  honest  men  of  all  classes,  unite 
for  the  sending  to  the  legislatures  those  who  will  represent 
the  real  interests  of  the  many,  not  the  imagined  interests 
of  the  few — of  the  people  at  large,  not  of  any  profession 
or  class. 

To  develope  farther  my  views  on  this  all  important  sub- 
ject at  the  present  time,  would  be  to  fatigue  your  atten- 
tion, and  exhaust  my  own  strength.  I  shall  prosecute 
this  subject  in  the  periodical  of  which  I  am  editor,*  which, 
in  common  with  my  pubUc  discourses,  have  been,  and 
will  ever  be,  devoted  to  the  common  cause  of  human  im- 
provement, and  addressed  to  humankind  without  distinc- 
tion of  nation,  class,  or  sect.  May  you,  my  fellow  beings, 
unite  in  the  same  cause,  in  the  same  spirit !  May  you 
learn  to  seek  truth  without  fear  !  May  you  farther  learn  to 
advocate  truth  as  you  distinguish  it ;  to  be  valiant  in  its 

*  The  Free  Enquirer,  published  in  New- York. 

p  22 


'170  EXISTING  EVILS.  [leCT.  VII. 

defence,  and  peaceful  while  valiant ;  to  meet  all  things, 
and  bear  all  things,  and  dare  all  things  for  the  correction 
of  abuses,  and  tlie  effecting,  in  private  and  in  public,  in 
your  own  minds,  through  the  minds  of  your  children, 
friends,  and  companions,  and,  above  all,  thrmigh  your 
legislatures^  a  radical  reform  in  all  your  measures,  whe- 
ther as  citizens,  or  as  men ! 


ADDRESS  I. 


p)elivcred  in  the  New  Hanuony  Hall,  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1828.] 

The  custom  which  commemorates  in  rejoicing  the  anni- 
versary of  the  national  independence  of  these  states,  has 
its  origin  in  a  human  feeling,  amiable  in  its  nature,  and 
beneficial;  under  proper  direction,  in  its  indulgence. 

From  the  era  which  dates  the  national  existence  of  the 
American  people,  dates  also  a  mighty  step  in  the  march  of 
human  knowledge.  And  it  is  consistent  with  that  prin- 
ciple in  our  conformation  which  leads  us  to  rejoice  in  the 
good  which  befals  our  species,  and  to  sorrow  for  the  evil, 
that  our  hearts  should  expand  on  this  day ; — on  this  day, 
which  calls  to  memory  the  conquest  achieved  by  know- 
ledge over  ignorance,  willing  co-operation  over  blind  obe- 
dience, opinion  over  prejudice,  new  ways  over  old  ways, 
when,  fifty-two  years  ago,  America  declared  her  national 
independence,  and  associated  it  with  her  republican  fede- 
ration. Reasonable  is  it  to  rejoice  on  this  day,  and  useful 
to  reflect  thereon ;  so  that  we  rejoice  for  the  real,  and  not 
any  imaginary  good,  and  reflect  on  the  positive  advan- 
tages obtained,  and  on  those  which  it  is  ours  farther  to 
acquire. 

Dating,  as  we  justly  may,  a  new  era  in  the  history  of 
man  from  the  Fourth  of  July.  1776,  it  would  be  well, 
that  is,  it  would  be  useful,  if  on  each  anniversary  we  ex- 
amined the  progress  made  by  our  species  in  just  know- 
ledge and  just  practice.  Each  Fourth  of  July  would  then 
stand  as  a  tide  mark  in  the  flood  of  time,  by  which  to  as- 


ri 


172  FOURTH  OP  JULY,  1828.      [address  I. 

certain  the  advance  of  the  human  intellect,  by  which  to 
note  the  rise  and  fall  of  each  successive  error,  the  disco- 
very of  each  important  truth,  the  gradual  meUoration  in 
our  pubhc  institutions,  social  arrangements,  and,  above  all, 
in  our  moral  feelings  and  mental  views.  Let  such  a  re- 
view as  this  engage  annually  our  attention,  and  sacred, 
doubly  sacred,  shall  be  this  day  ;  and  that  not  to  one  na- 
tion only,  but  to  all  nations  capable  of  reflection  ! 
iT  Ul*-'^ '^*i5s;.,  T^®  pohtical  dismemberment  of  these  once  Britisli  co- 
^  lonies  from  the  parent  island,  though  involving  a  valuable 

principle,  and  many  possible  results,  would  scarcely  merit 
a  yearly  commemoration,  even  in  this  country,  had  it  not 
been  accompanied  by  other  occurrences  more  novel,  and 
'    far  more  important.     I  allude  to  the  seal  then  set  to  the 
system  of  representative  government,  till  then  imperfectly 
known  in  Europe,  and  insecurely  practised  in  America, 
and  to  the  crown  then  placed  on  tliis  system  by  the  novel 
experiment  of  pohtical  federation.     The  frame  of  federa- 
>  I  tive  government  that  sprung  out  of  the  articles  signed  in 
i  f  '76,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  inventions  of  the  human 
intellect.     It  has  been  in  government  what  the  steam 
engine  has  been  in  mechanics,  and  the  printing  press  in 
the  dissemination  of  knowledge. 

But  it  needs  not  that  we  should  now  pause  to  analyse 
what  all  must  have  considered.  It  is  to  one  particular 
feature  in  our  political  institutions  that  I  would  call  atten- 
tion, and  this,  because  it  is  at  once  the  most  deserving  of 
notice,  and  the  least  noticed.  Are  our  institutions  better 
than  those  of  other  countries'?  Upon  fair  examination 
most  men  will  answer  yes.  But  why  will  they  so  an- 
swer 1  Is  it  because  they  are  republican,  instead  of  mo- 
narchical? democratic,  rather  than  aristocratic?  In  so 
far  as  the  repubhcan  principle  shall  have  been  proved  more 
conducive  to  the  general  good  than  the  monarchical,  and 


ADDRESS  I.]  FOURTH   OP  JULY,  1828.  173 

the  democratic  than  the  aristocratic — in  so  feir  will  the  rea- 
sons be  good.  But  there  is  another  and  a  better  reeiscoi 
than  these.  There  is,  in  the  institutions  of  this  country, 
one  principle,  which,  had  they  no  other  excellence,  would 
secure  to  them  the  preference  over  those  of  all  other  coun- 
tries. I  mean — and  some  devout  patriots  will  start — I 
mean  the  principle  of  change. 

1  have  used  a  word  to  which  is  attadied  an  obnoxious 
meaning.  Speak  of  change,  and  the  world  is  in  alarm. 
And  yet  where  do  we  not  see  change  ?  What  is  there  in 
the  physical  world  hut  change  ?  And  what  would  there 
be  in  the  moral  world  without  change  ?  The  flower  blos- 
soms, the  fruit  ripens,  the  seed  is  received  and  germinates 
in  the  earth,  and  we  behold  the  tree.  The  ahment  we 
eat  to  satisfy  our  htmger  incorporates  with  our  frame,  and 
the  atoms  composing  our  existence  to  day,  are  exhaled  to- 
morrow. In  like  manner  our  feelings  and  opinions  are 
moulded  by  circumstance,  and  matured  by  observation  and 
experience.  All  is  change.  Within  and  about  us  no  one 
thing  is  as  it  was,  or  will  be  as  it  is.  Strange,  then,  that 
we  should  start  at  a  word  used  to  signify  a  thing  so  fami- 
liar !  Stranger  yet  that  we  should  fail  to  appreciate  a 
principle  which,  inherent  in  all  matter,  is  no  less  inherent 
in  ourselves;  and  which,  as  it  has  tracked  our  mental 
progress  heretofore,  so  will  it  track  our  progress  through 
time  to  come ! 

But  will  it  be  said  change  has  a  bad,  as  well  as  a 
good  sense  ?  It  may  be  for  the  better,  and  it  may  be  for 
the  worse  ?  In  the  physical  world  it  can  be  neither  the 
one  nor  the  other.  It  can  be  simply  such  as  it  is.  But 
in  the  moral  world — that  is,  in  the  thoughts,  and  feelings, 
and  inventions  of  men,  change  may  certainly  be  either  for 
the  better  or  for  the  worse,  or  it  may  be  for  neither. 
Changes  that  are  neither  bad  nor  good  can  have  regard 
p2 


174  FOURTH  OP  JULY,  1828.      [address  I. 

only  to  trivial  matters,  and  can  be  as  little  worthy  of  ob- 
tservation  as  of  censure.  Changes  that  are  from  better  to 
worse  can  originate  only  in  ignorance,  and  are  ever 
amended  so  soon  as  experience  has  substantiated  their 
mischief.  Where  men  then  are  free  to  consult  experience 
they  will  correct  their  practice,  and  make  changes  for  the 
better.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  more  free  men  are, 
the  more  changes  they  will  make.  In  the  beginnmg, 
possibly,  for  the  worse ;  but  most  certainly  in  time  for  the 
better ;  mitil  their  knowledge  enlarging  by  observation, 
and  their  judgment  strengthening  by  exercise,  they  will 
find  themselves  in  the  straight,  broad,  fair  road  of  im- 
provement. Out  of  change,  therefore,  springs  improve- 
ment ;  and  the  people  who  shall  have  imagined  a  peace- 
able mode  of  changing  their  institutions,  hold  a  surety  for 
their  melioration.  This  surety  is  worth  all  other  excellen- 
cies. Better  were  the  prospects  of  a  people  under  the 
influence  of  the  worst  government  who  should  hold  the 
power  of  changing  it,  than  those  of  a  people  under  the 
best  who  should  hold  no  such  power.  Here,  then,  is  the 
great  beauty  of  American  government.  The  simple 
machinery  of  representation  carried  through  all  its  parts, 
gives  facility  for  its  being  moulded  at  will  to  fit  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  age.  If  hnperfect  in  any  or  all  of  it? 
parts,  it  bears  within  it  a  perfect  principle — the  principle  of 
improvement.  And,  let  us  observe,  that  this  principle  \if 
all  that  we  can  ever  know  of  perfection.  Knowledge,  and 
all  the  blessings  which  spring  out  of  knowledge,  can 
never  be  more  than  progressive;  and  whatsoever  sets 
open  the  door  does  all  for  us— does  every  thing. 

The  clear  sighted  provision  in  the  national  constitution, 
as  in  the  constitutions  of  the  different  states,  by  which  the 
frame  of  government  can  be  moulded  at  will  by  the  public 
voice,  and  so  made  to  keep  pace  in  progress  with  the  public 


ADDRESS  I.]         FOURTH    OF   JULY,  1828.  176 

mind,  is  the  master-stroke  in  constitutional  law.  Were  our 
institutions  far  less  enlightened  and  well  digested  than  they 
are — ^were  every  other  regulation  erroneous,  every  other  or- 
dinance defective — nay,  even  tyrannous — this  single  pro- 
vision would  counterbalance  all.  Let  but  the  door  be  opened, 
and  be  fixed  open,  for  improvement  to  hold  on  her  unim- 
peded course,  and  vices,  however  flagrant,  are  but  the  evils 
of  an  hour.  Once  lanch  the  animal  man  in  the  road  of 
enquiry,  and  he  shall — he  must — hold  a  forward  career. 
He  may  be  sometimes  checked ;  he  may  seem  occasion- 
ally to  retrograde  ;  but  his  retreat  is  only  that  of  the  re- 
ceding wave  in  the  inning  tide.  His  master  movement 
is  always  in  advance.  By  this  do  we  distinguish  man 
from  all  other  existences  within  the  range  of  our  observa- 
tion. By  this  does  he  stand  pre-eminent  over  all  known 
animals.  By  this — by  his  capability  of  improvement :  by 
his  tendency  to  improve  whenever  scope  is  allowed  for  the 
developement  of  his  faculties.  To  hold  him  still,  he  must 
be  chained.     Snap  the  chain,  and  he  springs  forward. 

But  will  it  be  said,  that  the  chains  which  bind  him  are 
more  than  one  ?  That  political  bonds  are  much,  but  not 
all ;  and  that  when  broken,  we  may  still  be  slaves  1  I 
know  not,  my  friends.  We  tax  our  ingenuity  to  draw 
nice  distinctions.  We  are  told  of  political  liberty — of  re- 
ligious liberty — of  moral  liberty.  Yet,  after  all,  is  there 
more  than  one  liberty ;  and  these  divisions,  are  they  not 
the  more  and  the  less  of  the  same  thing  ?  The  provision 
we  have  referred  to  in  our  political  institutions,  as  framed 
in  accordance  with  the  principle  inherent  in  ourselves,  in- 
sures to  us  aU  of  free  action  that  statutes  can  insure. 
Supposing  that  our  laws,  constitutional,  civU,  or  penal, 
should  in  any  thing  cripple  us  at  the  present,  the  power 
will  be  with  us  to  amend  or  annul  them  so  soon  (and  how 
might  it  be  sooner  ?)  as  our  enlarged  knowledge  shall 


17&  FOtTRTH    OF   JULY,  1828.         [ADDRESS  I. 

enable  us  to  see  in  what  they  err.  All  the  liberty  there- 
fore that  we  yet  lack  will  gradually  spring  up — there^ 
where  our  bondage  is — in  our  minds.  To  be  free  we 
have  but  to  see  our  chains.  Are  we  disappointed — are  we 
sometimes  angry,  because  the  crowd  or  any  part  of  the 
crowd  around  us  bows  submissively  to  mischievous  usages 
or  unjust  laws  ?  Let  us  remember,  that  they  do  so  in 
ignorance  of  their  mischief  and  injustice,  and  that  when 
they  see  these,  as  in  the  course  of  man's  progressive  state 
they  must  see  them,  these  and  other  evils  will  be  corrected. 
T"  Inappreciable  is  this  advantage  that  we  hold  (unfor- 
tunately) above  other  nations !  The  great  national  and 
political  revolution  of  '76  set  the  seal  to  the  liberties  of 
North  America.  And  but  for  one  evil,  and  that  of  im- 
mense magnitude,  which  the  constitutional  provision  we 
have  been  considering  does  not  fairly  reach — I  allude  to 
negro  slavery  and  the  degradation  of  our  colored  citizens 
•— w«  could  foresee  for  the  whole  of  this  meignificent 
country  a  certain  future  of  uniform  and  peaceful  im- 
provement. While  other  nations  have  still  to  win  reform 
at  the  sword's  point,  we  have  only  to  will  it.  While  in 
Europe  men  have  still  to  fight,  we  have  only  to  learn. 
While  there  they  have  to  cope  with  ignorance  armed  cap- 
a-peej  encircled  with  armies  and  powerful  with  gold,  we 
have  only  peacefully  to  collect  knowledge,  and  to  fiame 
our  institutions  and  actions  in  accordance  with  it. 

It  is  true,  that  we  have  much  knowledge  to  collect,  and 
consequently  much  to  amend  in  our  opinions  and  our 
practice.  It  is  also  true  that  we  are  often  ignorant  of  what 
has  been  done,  and  quite  unaware  that  there  is  yet  any 
thing^  to  do.  The  very  nature  of  the  national  institutions 
is  frequently  mistaken,  and  the  devotion  exhibited  for 
them  as  firequently  bsised  on  a  wrong  principle.  Here,  as 
in  other  countries,  we  hear  of  patriotism  ;  that  is^  of  love 


ADDRESS  I.]        FOURTH    OP   JULY,  1828.  179 

of  country  in  an  exclusive  sense ;  of  love  of  our  country- 
men in  contradistinction  to  the  love  of  our  fellow-creatures ; 
of  love  of  the  constitution,  instead  of  love  or  appreciation 
of  those  principles  upon  which  the  constitution  is,  or  ought 
to  be,  based,  and  upon  which,  if  it  should  be  found  not  to 
be  based,  it  would  merit  no  attachment  at  all. 

The  sentiment  here  adverted  to  involves  much  of  im- 
portance io  us  in  our  double  character  of  human  beings 
and  citizens.  That  double  character  it  will  be  also  useful 
that  we  examine,  as  much  confusion  prevails  in  the  vulgar 
ideas  on  the  subject. 

It  will  be  conceded,  that  we  do  not  cease  to  be  human  be- 
ings when  we  become  citizens  ;  and  farther,  that  our  happy 
existence  as  human  beings  is  of  more  importance  to  us 
than  our  artificial  existence  as  members  of  a  nation  or 
subjects  of  a  government.  Indeed,  the  only  rational  pur- 
pose for  which  we  can  suppose  men  congregated  into  what 
are  called  nations,  is  the  increase  of  happiness — ^the  in- 
suring of  some  advantage,  real  or  imagined.  The  only 
rational  purpose  for  which  we  can  suppose  governments 
organized,  the  same.  If,  upon  examination,  we  should 
find  the  object  not  gained,  the  experiment,  so  far  as  it  went, 
would  have  failed,  and  we  should  then  act  rationally  to 
break  up  such  national  congregations,  and  to  change  or 
annul  such  governments.  Our  character  as  citizens,  there- 
fore, must  ever  depend  upon  our  finding  it  for  our  interest 
as  human  beings  to  stand  in  that  relation.  What  then  is 
patriotism,  or  the  fulfilment  of  our  duties  as  citizens,  but  the 
acting  consistently  in  that  way  which  we  conceive  it  for  our 
interest  that  we  should  act  ?  Or  what  reason  might  be 
offered  for  our  consulting  the  interests  of  a  government, 
unless  its  interests  are  in  unison  with  our  own  ? 

The  great   error   of   the  wisest   known  nations  of 
antiquity,  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  was  the  preference 

23 


tf9^  FQU^TH   OP   JULY,  1828.         [ADDRESS  I. 

invariably  given  to  the  imagined  interests  of  an  imaginary 
existence  called  the  state  or  country^  and  the  real  interests 
of  the  real  existences,  or  human  beings,  upon  whom,  in- 
dividually and  collectively,  their  laws  could  alone  operate. 
Another  error  was  the  opposition  in  which  they  invariably 
placed  the  interests  of  their  own  nation  to  the  interests  of 
all  other  nations ;  and  a  third  and  greater  error,  was  the 
elevating  into  a  virtue  this  selfish  preference  of  dieir  own 
national  interests,  under  the  name  of  patriotism.  The 
moderns  are  growing  a  httle  wiser  on  these  matters,  but 
they  are  still  very  ignorant.  The  least  ignorant  are  the 
people  of  this  country ;  but  they  have  much  to  learn. 
Americans  no  longer  argue  on  the  propriety  of  making  all 
men  soldiers,  in  order  that  their  nation  may  be  an  object 
of  terror  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  They  understand  that 
the  happiness  of  a  people  is  the  only  rational  object  of  a 
government,  and  the  only  object  for  which  a  people,  free 
to  choose,  can  have  a  government  at  all.  They  have, 
farther,  almost  excluded  war  as  a  profession,  and  reduced 
it  from  a  system  of  robbery  to  one  of  simple  defence.  In 
so  doing,  they  ought  also  to  have  laid  aside  all  show  of 
military  parade,  and  all  ideas  of  military  glory.  If  they 
have  not  done  so,  it  is  that  their  reform  in  this  matter  is 
yet  imperfect,  and  their  ideas  respecting  it  are  confused. 

Who  among  us  but  has  heard,  and,  perhaps,  echoed 
eulogiums  on  the  patriotism  of  statesmen  and  soldiers — 
not  because  they  have  upheld  some  strict  principle  of  jus- 
tice, which  should  rather  merit  the  name  of  virtue,  but 
because  they  have  flattered  the  vanity  of  their  countrymen 
in  a  pubUc  speech,  defended  their  own  interests,  and  the 
national  interests,  in  some  foreign  treaty,  or  their  own  pos- 
sessions, and  the  national  possessions,  in  a- siege  or  a  pitch- 
ed battle  ?  It  is  not  that  some  of  these  actions  may  not 
be  just  and  proper ;  but  are  they  justly  and  properly  esti- 


JlDDRBSS  I.]         FOURTH  OP   JULY,  1828.  179  | 

mated  ?  Is  it  virtuous  in  a  man  if  a  pistol  be  presented 
to  his  breast,  to  knock  down  the  assailant  ?  The  action 
is  perfectly  warrantable ;  but  does  it  call  forth  admiration? 
Should  the  attack  be  made  on  another,  and  should  he  de-  ^ 

fend  the  life  of  that  other  at  the  risk  of  his  own ;  the  | 

action,  though  not  exceedingly  meritorious,  might  excite  a  ;| 

moderate  admiration,  as  involving  a  forgetfulness  of  self  in  ^ 

the  service  rendered.  ^' 

Does  not  the  defence  of  country  afford  a  parallel  case 
to  the  first  supposition  ?  Insomuch  as  it  be  ours,  we  defend 
our  own.  We  do  what  it  is  fair  and  proper  that  we  should 
do,  but  we  do  nothing  more.  What,  then,  is  patriotism, 
of  which  we  hear  so  much,  and  understand  so  httle  ?  If 
it  mean  only  a  proper  attention  to  our  own  interests,  and 
the  interests  of  the  people  with  whom  we  stand  connected, 
and  of  the  government  instituted  for  our  protection,  it  is  a 
rational  sentiment,  and  one  appertaining  to  our  organiza- 
tion. It  is  one,  in  short,  with  the  love  of  self,  and  the 
principle  of  self-defence  and  self-preservation.  Again; 
are  we  to  understand  by  it  an  attachment  to  the  soil  we 
tread,  because  we  tread  it ;  the  language  we  speak,  because 
we  speak  it ;  the  government  that  rules  us,  merely  because 
it  rules  us  ?  It  means  nothing,  or  it  means  nonsense. 
Again ;  are  we  to  understand  by  patriotism  a  preference 
for  the  interests  of  our  own  nation  under  aU  circumstances, 
even  to  the  sacrifice  of  those  of  other  nations — ^it  is  a  vice. 

In  continental  Europe,  of  late  years,  the  words  patriot-  ^ 

ism  and  patriot  have  been  used  in  a  more  enlarged  sense  '  f  f 

than  it  is  usual  here  to  attribute  to  them,  or  than  is  attach-  ■ 

ed  to  them  in  Great  Britain.     Since  the  political  struggles  ■ 

of  France,  Italy,  Spain,  and  Greece,  the  word  patriotism 
has  been  employed,  throughout  continental  Europe,  to  ex-  | 

press  a  love  of  the  pubhc  good  ;  a  preference  for  the  inte- 
rests of  the  many  to  those  of  the  few ;  a  desire  for  the 


■t 


196  FOURTH    OF    JULY,  1828.         [ADDRESS  I. 

emancipation  of  the  human  race  from  the  thrall  of  despo- 
tism, religious  and  civil ;  in  short,  patriotism  there  is  used 
rather  to  express  the  interest  felt  in  the  human  race  in  ge- 
neral, than  that  felt  for  any  country,  or  mhabitants  of  a 
country,  in  particular.  And  patriot,  in  like  manner,  is 
employed  to  signify  a  lover  of  human  Hberty  and  human 
improvement,  rather  than  a  mere  lover  of  the  country  in 
which  he  hves,  or  the  tribe  to  which  he  belongs..  Used  in 
this  sense,  patriotism  is  a  virtue,  and  a  patriot  a  virtuous 
man.  With  such  an  interpretation,  a  patriot  is  a  useful 
member  of  society,  capable  of  enlarging  all  minds,  and 
bettering  all  hearts  with  which  he  comes  in  contact ;  a 
useful  member  of  the  human  family,  capable  of  establish- 
ing fundamental  principles,  and  of  merging  his  own  inte- 
rests, those  of  his  associates,  and  those  of  his  nation,  in 
the  interests  of  the  human  race.  Laurels  and  statues  are 
vain  things,  and  mischievous  as  they  are  childish ;  but, 
could  we  imagine  them  of  use,  on  such  a  patriot  alone 
could  they  be  with  any  reason  bestowed. 

Is  there  a  thought  can  fill  the  human  mind 
More  pure,  more  vast,  more  generous,  more  refin'd 
Than  that  which  guides  the  enUghtened  patriot's  toil  i 
Not  he,  whose  view  is  bounded  by  his  soil : 
Not  he,  whose  narrow  heart  can  only  shrine 
The  land — ^the  people  that  he  calleth  mi-ne  ; 
Not  he,  who  to  set  up  that  land  on  high. 
Will  make  whole  nations  bleed,  whole  nations  die  j 
Not  he,  who,  calling  that  land's  rights  his  pride, 
Trampleth  the  rights  of  all  the  earth  beside ; 
No ! — He  it  is,  the  just,  the  generous  soul ! 
Who  owneth  brotherhood  with  either  pole, 
Stretches  from  realm  to  realm  his  spacious  mind, 
.    And  guards  the  weal  of  all  the  human  kind, 
Holds  Freedom's  banner  o'er  the  earth  unfurl'd. 
And  stands  the  guardian  patriot  of  a  world ! 

If  such  a  patriotism  as  we  have  last  considered  should 


ADDRESS  I.]         FOtJRTH    OP   JULY,  1828.  181 

seem  likely  to  obtain  in  any  country,  it  should  be  certainly 
in  this.  In  this,  which  is  truly  the  home  of  all  nations, 
and  in  the  veins  of  whose  citizens  flows  the  blood  of  every 
people  on  the  globe.  Patriotism,  in  the  exclusive  mean-  ^ 
ing,  is  surely  not  made  for  America.  Mischievous  every 
where,  it  were  here  both  mischievous  and  absurd.  The 
very  origin  of  the  people  is  opposed  to  it.  The  institu- 
tions, in  their  principle,  militate  against  it.  The  day  we 
are  celebrating  protests  against  it.  It  is  for  Americans, 
more  especially,  to  nourish  a  nobler  sentiment ;  one  more 
consistent  ^vith  their  origin,  and  more  conducive  to  their 
future  improvement.  It  is  for  them  more  especially  to 
know  why  they  love  their  country,  and  to  feel  that  they 
love  it,  not  because  it  is  their  country,  but  because  it  is 
the  palladium  of  human  hberty — the  favoured  scene  of 
human  improvement.  It  is  for  them,  more  especially,  to 
know  why  they  honor  their  institutions,  a^id  to  feel  that 
they  honor  them  because  they  are  based  Oh  just  princi- 
ples. It  is  for  them,  more  especially,  to  examine  their  in- 
stitutions, because  they  have  the  means  of  improving 
them ;  to  examine  their  laws,  because  at  wiU  they  can 
alter  them.  It  is  for  them  to  lay  asidei  luxury,  whose 
wealth  is  in  industry ;  idle  parade,  whose  strength  is  in 
knowledge ;  ambitious  distinctions,  whose  principle  is 
equality.  It  is  for  them  not  to  rest  satisfied  with  words, 
who  can  seize  upon  things ;  and  to  remember,  that  equa- 
lity means,  not  the  mere^quaUty  of  poUtical  rights,  how- 
ever valuable,  but  equaUty  of  instruction,  and  equality  in 
virtue ;  and  that  liberty  means,  not  the  mere  ^oting  at 
elections,  but  the  free  and  feaprless  exercise  of  th^  mental 
faculties,  and  that  self-pos^ssion  which  spring^  out  of 
well-reasoned  opinions  and^  consistent  practice.^  It  is  for 
them  to  honor  principles  rather  than  men — to  conmiemo- 
rate  events  rather  than  days :  when  they  rejoice,  to  know 


I 


p-: 


tSK  FOURTH   OP   /ULYj  1828,        ^ADDRESS  I. 

for  what  they  rejoice,  and  to  rejoice  only  for  what  has 
brought,  and  what  brings,  peace  and  happiness  to  men. 
The  event  we  commemorate  this  day  has  procured  much 
of  both,  and  shall  procure,  in  the  onward  course  of  human 
improvement,  more  than  we  can  now  conceive  of  For 
this — ^for  the  good  obtained,  and  yet  in  store  for  our  race — 
let  us  rejoice  !  But  let  us  rejoice  as  men,  not  as  children — 
as  human  beings,  rather  than  as  Americans — as  reason- 
ing beings,  not  as  ignorants.  So  shall  we  rejoice  to  good 
purpose,  and  in  good  feeling ;  so  shall  we  improve  the  vic- 
tory once  on  this  day  achieved,  until  all  mankind  hold 
with  us  the  jubilee  of  independence. 


ADDRESS  n. 


[Delivered  in  the  Philadelphia  Theatre,  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1829.] 

[The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  read,  and  laid,  unrolled,  on  the 
table  by  the  speaker,  who  during  the  following  Address,  will  be  concaved 
as  frequently  appealing  to  the  same.] 

Fellow  Citizens  and  Fellow  Beings — 

The  day  we  are  assembled  to  commemorate,  liatb 
been  ushered  in  by  the  roar  of  cannon,  and  tlie  roll  of 
musketry.  Such,  in  very  deed,  was  the  note  of  war  and 
dreadful  preparation  it  awoke  for  your  fathers.  Such,  in 
very  deed,  had  they  to  hear  and  to  answer,  as  they  might 
and  as  they  could,  when,  weak  in  numbers,  unskilled  in 
the  art  of  human  butchery,  but  strong  in  the  courage  of 
a  righteous  cause,  they  gave  the  challenge  to  tyranny  in 
the  name  of  humankind ;  and  staked  hfe,  fortune,  and 
honor  on  the  throw.  Yea  !  on  that  morn,  big  with  the 
destinies  of  humankind,  prophetic  of  reforms  then  even 
unimagined,  of  knowledge,  and  liberty,  and  virtue  then 
even  unhoped  for  and  unconceived — yea  !  on  that  morn, 
when  freedom's  first  larum  was  rung  to  the  world,  and 
despotism's  legions  sprang  to  arras  at  the  sound,  then,  in- 
deed, might  the  fathers  of  our  peaceful  Hberties,  in  pro- 
claiming those  truths  in  which  we,  now  in  part,  and  here- 
after in  fulness,  may  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being 
as  free-men — then,  indeed,  I  say,  in  uttering  the  words 
of  peace,  might  they  grasp  the  weapons  of  war ;  and, 
while  pronouncing  the  future  redemption  of  the  world 
from  violence,  injustice,  and  tyranny,  might  they  array 


184  FOURTH  OP  JULY,  1829.        [address  II. 

the  battle,  and  mount  the  cannon,  and  number  the  child- 
ren of  the  land,  who,  in  the  hour  of  need,  might  prove 
them  men  of  war,  and  forsake  the  plough  and  the  pruning 
hook,  for  the  musket  and  the  spear. 

But  wherefore  now  sounds  the  martial  reveillie  and  the 
clash  of  steel  ?  Where  is  the  foe  who  threatens  devasta- 
tion to  our  borders,  fire  to  our  cities,  slaughter  to  our  peo- 
ple ?  Are  his  fleets  on  the  waters — his  armies  in  the  field, 
that  we  wake  the  day  as  with  the  thunders  of  battle,  and 
profane  this  solemn  anniversary  with  sights,  and  sounds, 
and  pageants,  and  clamor  befitting  a  sieged  city ;  and 
awakening  thoughts  of  violence  and  blood,  unhallowed 
ambition,  and  more  unhallowed  murder  ? 

Curse  on  the  crimson' d  plumes,  the  banners  flouting 
The  stirring  clarion,  the  leaders  shouting, 
The  fair  caparisons,  the  war  horse  champing. 
The  array'd  legions — pressing,  rushing,  tramping, 
The  blazon'd  falchions,  crests  that  toss  afar, 
The  bold  emprize,  the  spirit  rousing  jar, 
The  martial  paeans,  thvmdering  acclaim, 
The  death  of  glory,  and  the  Uving  fame, 
The  sculptor's  monmnent,  the  people's  bays, 
The  historian's  narrative,  the  poet's  lays — 
Oh — curse  on  all  the  pageant  and  the  show, 
That  veileth  o'er  the  fiendish  hell  below  I 

Far  be  such  pageantry  from  our  eyes — such  sounds 
from  our  ears,  on  this  day  of  hope,  and  in  this  land  of 
peace  !  Let  the  insignia  of  death,  and  the  parade  of  mili- 
tary violence,  bespeak  the  accession  of  European  mon- 
archs  to  the  lawless  thrones  of  lawless  power.  Let  the 
war  note  and  the  cannon's  thunder  proclaim  the  success 
of  titled  robbers  returning  from  the  sack  of  cities,  and  de- 
solation of  empires.  Let  them  follow  the  steps,  and  cele- 
brate the  deeds,  of  insane  and  insatiate  ambition.  Let 
them  surround  the  car  of  bloody  conquest,  where  they 


ADDRESS  II.]        FOURTH  OF  JULY,  1829.  185 

may  drown  tlie  cry  of  the  injured,  and  the  curse  of  the 
oppressed.  Let  them  sound  in  the  courts  of  tyranny, 
where  they  may  stifle  the  moan  of  the  captive,  and  the 
death-sob  of  the  patriot  martyr.  Let  them  swell  over 
the  field  of  carnage,  where  they  may  drown  the  sigh  of 
the  widow  and  the  shriek  of  expiring  agony.  There  let 
them  sound  ;  for  there  they  gpeak  the  spirit  of  the  hour, 
and  proclaim  their  own  work  of  rebbery  and  death  ! 

But  not  the  chaste  ear  of  liberty  let  such  sounds  pro- 
fane, where,  as  in  this  land,  she  hath  broken  her  sword  to 
clasp  the  wand  of  peace  ;  and  waits  only  for  knowledge 
to  extend  her  dominion,  and  fix  her  throne  in  every  hu- 
man breast.  No  1  let  the  sound  of  rejoicing,  in  this  land 
of  promise,  be  heard  in  the  glad  voice  of  an  enlightened 
and  united  people.  Let  it  breathe  from  minds  wise  with 
truth,  and  hearts  warm  with  benevolence.  Let  it  rise  in 
songs  of  joy  from  fields  rich  in  the  treasures  of  prosperous 
industry  ;  from  dwellings  blessed  with  social  happiness  ; 
from  a  land — from  a  world  possessed,  improved,  enjoyed 
by  a  race  awakened  from  ignorance,  redeemed  from  error, 
reclaimed  from  vice,  and  healed  from  suffering.  Yea  ! 
let  the  sun  which  riseth  on  this  blessed  morn — this  festi- 
val of  freedom  and  anniversary  of  human  independence — 
be  hailed  by  sounds  betokening  universal  peace  and  uni- 
versal prosperity;  and  welcomed  by  hearts  proud  and 
blessed  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  gloried  and  the  glo- 
rious declaration — all  men  are  free  and  equal. 

I  have  said  let  this  so  he.  Let  this  so  be ;  for  this  is 
not  yet.  I  am  not  here,  as  the  custom  is,  to  flatter  your 
pride,  fellow  citizens  of  a  common  country  !  by  recount- 
ing the  deeds  of  your  ancestors,  and  applauding  you  for 
the  truths  they  proclaimed,  and  the  conquests  they 
achieved.  I  am  not  here,  fellow  beings  of  a  common 
race  !  to  feed  your  presumption,  by  culling  from  the  an- 
a2  24 


186  FOURTH  OP  JULY,  1829.        [address  II. 

nals  of  humankind  the  brightest  records  of  human  great- 
ness, and  teaching  ye  that,  in  wisdom,  ye  are  wiser  than 
the  wisest,  and,  in  virtue,  more  exalted  than  the  best. 
Enough  have  ye  heard  of  flattery — more  than  enough  of 
gratulation.  The  more  honest,  the  more  useful,  but  the 
more  ungracious  and  thankless  task  be  mine  to  speak 
the  words  of  counsel,  or,  if  it  must  be,  of  reproof 

The  first  jubilee  of  your  nation's  independence  has 
been  celebrated,  and  ye  are  advancing  towards  the  second. 
Fifty-three  years  have  ye  been  in  possession  of  the  herit- 
age won  by  your  fathers ;  that  heritage  comprising  na- 
tional independence  and  political  freedom — the  one  gua- 
ranteeing a  free  theatre  of  action  at  home ;  the  other  pre- 
senting security  from  all  interference  from  abroad. 

Previous  to  that  memorable  era  which  converted  these 
then  colonies  into  independent  states,  the  North  American 
continent  was  known  to  few  Europeans,  save  the  business 
trader,  the  daring  adventurer,  or  the  pohtical  martyr. 
They  only  whom  gain  allured,  or  persecution  drove  to  the 
shores,  seemed  aware  of  their  existence.  Even  their  im- 
perious rulers,  while  taxing  the  population,  disputing  their 
laws  and  their  constitutions,  were  ignorant  of  the  extent 
and  geography  of  the  country,  and,  possibly,  in  common 
with  even  the  better  informed  portion  of  the  English  com- 
munity, imagined  the  color  of  its  population  to  be  akin  to 
that  of  the  Moors,  and  its  language  to  be  a  corruption  of 
Iroquois. 

The  resistance  of  America  first  fixed  the  eyes  of  the 
world  upon  her.  It  was  at  first  the  gaze  of  astonish- 
ment and  curiosity.  But,  when  the  battle  was  fought, 
and  that  having  sealed  her  independence  with  her  blood, 
she  sat  down  to  entrench  her  liberty  within  the  novel 
bulwark  of  novel  institutions  ;  when  her  act  of  national 
independence  had  been  followed  by   a  declaration  of 


ADDRESS  1 1. J        FOURTH  OF  JULY,  1829.  187 

rights,  and  a  constitution  based  upon  and  limited  by  those 
rights ;  and,  when  a  term  of  years  had  tried  the  strength 
of  the  daring  experunent,  she  then  became,  what  she 
still  is — the  hope  of  the  nations,  and  the  terror  of  their 
oppressors.  On  her,  from  that  hour,  has  the  eye  of  hu- 
man patriotism  been  fixed.  The  political  reformer,  in 
lands  the  most  benighted  and  enslaved,  has  seen  in  the 
existence  of  America,  the  promise  of  his  own  country's 
redemption ;  while,  in  the  same,  the  philosopher  hath 
found  a  surety  for  the  final  and  universal  enfranchisement 
of  humankind. 

When  the  European  sage  hath  seen  the  old  continent 
bowed  beneath  the  yoke — when  he  hath  seen  its  choicest 
sons  shed  their  blood  on  the  scaffold,  expire  in  dungeons, 
or  deplore  in  exile  and  poverty  their  degraded  country  and 
ruiaed  hopes — when  he  hath  seen  the  hghts  of  knowledge 
quenched  around  him,  the  tide  of  time  turned,  as  it  were, 
backward  in  its  course,  and  the  human  mind  receding 
into  the  night  of  bygone  ages — still  in  this  wide  spread- 
ing scene  of  desolation  could  his  heart  find  comfort — still 
did  he  behold  a  nation,  strong  and  established  in  princi- 
ple, with  whom  was  the  power  to  roll  back  the  clouds  of 
ignorance,  and  bid  the  human  intellect  "  move  on  !" 
Then,  when  the  storm  gathered  darkest  around  him, 
hath  he  said,  "  Behold  Uberty  hath  followed  the  sun  in 
his  path,  and  called  the  new  hemisphere  her  own !  and 
there  shall  not  knowledge  kindle  her  torch,  and  man,  by 
its  light,  explore  his  own  world  and  himself,  until  error, 
crime,  and  wretchedness  shall  disappear,  and  truth,  in  its 
effulgence,  break  upon  the  world  ?" 

Hath  wisdom  hoped  thus  of  ye,  free  born  citizens  of 
independent  republics  !  Hath  such,  I  say,  been  her  hope  ? 
If  it  have,  how  have  ye  fulfilled  it  ? 

Oh,  people  of  America !  weighty  is  your  responsibility ! 


^e 


FOURTH  OP  JULY,  1829.        [ADDRESS  II. 


The  destinies  of  mankind  hang  upon  your  breath.  The 
fate  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  is  entrusted  to  your 
keeping.  On  you  devolves  the  task  of  vindicating  our 
human  nature  from  the  slanders  heaped  on  it  by  super- 
stitious ignorance,  and  the  Ubels  imagined  by  designing 
ambition.  With  you  rests  the  duty,  for  with  you  is  the 
power,  to  disprove  the  blasphemies  of  temporal  tyrants, 
and  spiritual  craftsmen.  On  you  the  whole  family  of 
humankind  turns  the  eye  of  expectation.  From  the  Hel- 
lespont to  the  icy  sea — from  the  Don  to  Atlantic,  suffer- 
ing Europe  hopes  in  your  liberty,  and  waits  for  the  in- 
fluence of  the  virtue  she  dreams  must  be  yours.  On  the 
shores  of  the  ravaged  Tagus,  the  ruined  Tyber,  the  bar- 
barous Tanais  and  Danube,  the  palace  crowned  Thames 
and  luxurious  Seine,  where  wealth  displays  its  splendor, 
and  poverty  its  wretchedness — there,  in  each  varied  realm 
and  distant  region,  does  the  oft  defeated  patriot,  and  oft 
disappointed  beUever  in  the  latent  excellence  and  final 
enfranchisement  of  trampled  humanity,  breathe  his  sighs, 
and  wing  his  hopes  to  the  far  off  land,  which,  on  this 
day,  celebrates,  not  its  own,  but  the  world's  festival ;  and 
renews,  in  the  name  of  humankind,  the  declaration  of 
human  independence. 

Say,  will  ye  disappoint  these  high  expectations  ?  Will 
ye  prove  false  to  the  cause  ye  have  espoused  ?  Will  ye 
belie  the  pledge  of  your  fathers  and  your  own ;  and 
make  of  this  day,  and  all  that  it  commemorates,  a  by- 
word and  a  mockery  among  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  ? 

Let  me  reason  with  you,  fellow  beings  !  for  to  develope 
your  interests,  to  point  to  your  duties,  to  detect  your 
negUgence,  or,  if  such  there  be,  to  challenge  your  trans- 
gressions, am  I  here. 

High  is  the  ground  you  have  assumed,  people  of  the 
United  States !  Pure  and  subUme  are  the  principles  on 


ADDRESS  II.]        FOURTH  OP  JULY,  1829.  189 

which  you  have  based  your  institutions.  Simple  and 
grand  are  those  institutions  themselves.  And,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  greatness  of  these,  is  your  responsibility. 

Other  nations,  governed  by  the  loose  tide  of  circum- 
stances, or  by  the  whim  of  silly  monarchs  and  their  crafty 
ministers,  may  throw  from  them  the  folly  of  their  national 
errors,  or  claim  but  Uttle  part  in  their  wiser  actions.  Not 
so  with  you,  people  of  these  United  States !  You  have 
willed  yourselves /ree  as  well  as  independent.  You  are 
proclaimed  to  the  world  for  a  self  governing  people.  You 
have  declared  liberty  to  be  the  birthright  of  man.  You 
have  purchased  it  with  toil,  and  blood,  and  suffering ;  en- 
trenched it  within  the  peaceful  but  immutable  bulwarks 
of  representative  government,  and  hold  in  your  hands 
the  power  to  correct  its  every  error,  and  to  improve  its 
every  good. 

Behold,  then,  every  institution,  every  law,  every  action, 
of  your  government  emanating  from  yourselves  !  Is  the 
spirit  of  the  national  policy  enlightened— -on  you  reflects 
the  honor.  Are  the  public  measures  wise — ^to  you  is 
traced  the  wisdom.  Is  aught  done  foolishly — ^the  foUy 
rests  with  your  ignorance.  Is  aught  neglected — with 
your  negligence  lies  the  omission.  You  may  not,  then, 
be  judged  in  comparison  with  other  nations.  Your  own 
mouth  must  supply  your  sentence.  Even  by  those  prin- 
ciples shall  you  be  tried,  which  are  set  forth  in  this  de- 
claration ;  and  to  the  support  of  which,  you,  even  as 
your  fathers  before  you,  have  pledged  your  lives,  your 
fortunes,  and  your  honor. 

If,  then,  in  your  constitutional  code,  there  shall  be 
found  one  article  in  violation  of  the  principles  herein 
enshrined,  then  is  your  sacred  honor  impeached  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world.  If,  in  one  act  of  your  government,  at  home 
or  abroad,  you  shall  have  violated  these  principles,  then 


•  190  FOURTH  OP  jrULY,  1829.        [address  II. 

is  your  sacred  honor  impeached  in  the  eyes  of  the  world. 
If  you  shall  have  harbored  within  your  bosom,  and  sanc- 
tioned by  your  laws,  one  practice  outraging  these  princi- 
ples, then  is  your  sacred  honor  impeached  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world.  If  ye  shall  have  omitted  one  measure  neces- 
sary for  the  protection  and  practical  illustration  of  these 
principles,  then  is  your  sacred  honor  impeached  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world. 

How  stands,  then,  your  account,  my  fellow  citizens? 
How  have  ye  fulfilled  your  promise  and  redeemed  your 
pledge  ?  Can  ye,  on  this  day,  when  the  eyes  of  the  world 
are  upon  ye,  renew  your  solemn  appeal  to  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  and  court  their  scrutiny  throughout  your 
borders  ?  Can  ye,  on  this  day,  challenge  the  investigation 
of  mankind,  and  say — "  We  have  improved  the  heritage 
bequeathed  by  our  fathers.  We  have  followed  the  path 
they  traced  for  our  footsteps.  We  have  revealed,  in  our 
practice,  the  excellence  of  those  truths  whose  theory 
they  proclaimed.  We  have  exercised  those  rights 
and  powers  which  they  purchased  with  their  blood,  and 
gave  us,  in  peace  to  enjoy,  and  in  wisdom  to  improve  ?" 

Can  ye,  fellow  citizens,  say  this  ?  Oh — would,  for  the 
sake  of  humankind,  that  ye  could  answer  "  Yea  1" 

Bitter  are  the  words  of  reproof ;  nor  needs  it  that  my 
voice  should  speak  them.  The  cry  of  misery  hath  gone 
up  from  the  land ;  and  that  cry  is  your  condemnation. 

And  was  it  for  this  your  fathers  raised  the  standard  of 
rebellion  ?  Was  it  for  this  they  braved  an  empire's  power, 
and  bare  with  ten  years  of  war  and  tribulation  ?  Was  it 
to  effect  no  more  of  good  than  we  see  around  us,  that 
they  shut  their  unarmed  ports  against  the  navies  of  Bri- 
tain, and  set  at  nought  the  authorities  of  ancient  days 
and  the  threats  of  parliaments  and  thrones  ?  Was  it  to 
exchange  the  open  tyranny  of  temporal  kings  for  the 


ADDRESS  II.]        FOURTH  OP  JULY,  1829.  19i 

more  subtle  dominion  of  spiritual  hierarchs,  that  the 
American  people  first  pledged  their  honor  to  this  sacred 
instrument  ?  Was  it  to  build  up  the  ascendancy  of  priests 
omniscient  by  the  grace  of  God,  that  they  challenged  the 
prerogatives  of  monarchs  omnipotent  by  the  same  ?  Was 
it  to  crush  down  the  sons  and  daughters  of  your  country^s 
industry  under  the  accumulated  and  accumulating  evils 
of  neglect,  poverty,  vice,  starvation,  and  disease,  that 
your  fathers  bought  your  independence  with  their  blood, 
and  decreed,  by  this  charter,  your  equality  as  citizens, 
and  your  liberty  as  men  ?  Oh  !  were  this  noble  instra- 
ment  to  work  no  more  of  practical  reform  than  it  hath 
wrought  to  this  hour,  wiser  it  were  to  burn  it  on  the  very 
spot  where  sages  first  conceived  and  heroes  proclaimed  it, 
than  longer  to  mock  the  ears  of  this  nation  and  the  hopes 
of  the  world  with  the  sound  of  truths,  man  is  never  to 
realize,  ,of  blessings  he  is  never  to  enjoy  !  Yea  !  were  the 
rights  of  conscience,  of  self  government,  of  thought,  and 
of  action,  as  set  forth  in  this  declaration,  able  to  effect  no 
more  than  we  behold,  I  would  tell  ye  to  hasten  to  your 
old  state  house — and  there,  where  these  bold  words  first 
startled  the  world,  to  consign  them  to  oblivion.  I  would 
tell  ye,  I  say,  to  let  the  same  walls  which  echoed  the 
first  cry  of  "  Liberty  and  Equality,"  give  back,  ere  they 
totter  to  decay,  the  last  hollow  murmurs  of  a  deceiving 
sound.  I  would  tell  ye  to  end  in  the  patriot's  breast  the 
sickness  of  hope  long  delayed  ;  to  remove  from  the  ear 
of  reason  and  the  eye  of  philanthropy  sights  and  sounds 
which  should  then  speak  only  of  insult  and  mockery ; 
and  to  leave  the  good  and  the  wise,  who  now  stand  ex- 
pecting at  your  hands  the  redemption  of  our  race,  to  let 
go  the  deceiving  anchor  of  their  hope,  and  nerve  their 
minds  to  view  with  fortitude  .or  apathy  evils  without  re- 


192  FOURTH  OP  JULY,  1829.    [address  II. 

medy,  and  submit  to  a  destiny  beyond  the  reach  of  cir- 
cumstance to  influence,  or  knowledge  to  improve. 

I  pray  ye  to  observe  and  well  to  understand  that  the  fate 
of  this  nation  involves  that  of  the  world ;  and  that  if  man 
should  here  fail  to  improve  his  nature  and  his  condition, 
his  nature  must  stand  demonstrated  for  innately  de- 
praved, his  condition  for  irretrievably  wretched.  No  argu- 
ment is  required  to  show  that,  if  the  human  character  and 
position  are  capable  of  improvement,  it  must  be  in  the 
country  where  human  exertion  is  free.  All  must  perceive 
that  if  good  sense  and  right  principles  of  action  are  to 
talce  place  of  prejudice  and  corrupt  principles  of  action,  it 
is  in  the  country  whose  government,  in  its  forms  as  well 
as  its  measures,  may  profit  by  the  lessons  of  experience 
and  look  to  pubUc  opinion  for  its  guide  and  its  corrector. 

I  have  already  (in  the  address  delivered  on  the  last  an- 
niversary of  this  day)  developed,  in  full,  what  I  conceive 
to  constitute  the  excellence  of  the  national  institutions, 
and  to  which  it  is  now  only  necessary  to  make  a  passing 
allusion. 
'  I  then  observed  the  great  beauty  of  American  govern- 
ment to  be,  that  the  sbnple  machinery  of  representa- 
tiofij  carried  through  all  its  parts,  gives  facility  for  its 
being  moulded  at  will  to  fit  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
age  ;  that  thus,  although  it  should  he  imperfect  in  any 
or  all  of  its  parts,  it  hears  within  it  a  perfect  princijyle 
— the  principle  of  improvemeyit.  And  that,  therefore, 
we  should  distinguish  the  advantage  we  possess  over 
other  nations,  to  be — not  that  our  form,  of  govemmjcnt 
is  repuhlican,  or  democratic,  or  federative,  hut  that  it 
possesses  the  power  of  silent  adaptation  to  th^e  cAering 
views  of  the  governing  and  governed  people  ;  that  it 
may  ever  peac^uLLy^he  changed  with  the  changing 


ADDRESS  II.]        FOURTH  OP  JULY,  1829. 

spirit  of  the  age,  and  express  the  sentiments  and  adr 
Vance  the  interests  of  each  successive  generation. 

This  one  distinguishing  property  of  a  government, 
purely  representative  in  all  its  parts  and  modes,  is  that,- 
in  virtue  of  which,  the  era  we  now  celebrate,  and  this* 
charter  of  the  rights  of  humankind,  may  alone  be  made  in- 
strumental to  the  happiness  of  our  race.  And  so,  in  like 
manner,  has  it  been  the  nonappreciation  and  nonpercep- 
tioii  of  this  one  inherent  excellence  which  has  hitherto 
neutralized  the  effect  of  the  American  institutions. 

This,  with  all  other  errors,  may  be  traced  to  that  de- 
fective instruction,  which,  teaching  words,  apart  from 
principles  as  from  things,  makes  us  ever  intent  on  the 
sign  instead  of  the  substance,  the  theory  instead  of  the 
practice. 

Because  we  find  in  this  instrument  the  liberty  and 
equality  of  man  set  forth  as  an  abstract  truth,  we  con- 
ceive the  same  to  be  practically  secured.  Because  we 
have  established  in  the  constitutional  code  that  each  male 
adult,  or  nearly  so,  shall  have  a  voice  in  the  nomination 
of  the  public  officers,  we  conceive  ourselves  to  be  in  effect 
a  self  governing  people.  And  yet  to  what,  I  pray  ye, 
does  the  privilege  of  the  elective  franchise,  as  now  exer- 
cised, amount?  To  a  choice  of  men,  and  those  men 
found,  and  necessarily  found,  among  a  class  whose 
interests  are  at  variance  with  those  of  the  great  body 
of  the  nation.  And  what  are  the  results  even  of  this 
right  of  choice,  partial  and  ineffectual  as  it  is  ?  Let 
the  history  of  every  election  declare — from  that  of  a 
militia  colonel  to  the  governors  of  your  commonwealths  ; 
from  that  of  a  member  of  your  city  council  to  the  officers 
of  your  national  senate,  or  even  to  the  first  magistrate  of 
the  repubUc  !  What,  I  ask,  at  this  hour,  are  the  moral 
results  to  the  American  people  of  that  political  right  upon 
R  25 


194  FOURTH    OF    JULY,    1829.      [aDDRESS  II. 

which  rests  the  whole  frame  of  their  civil  hberty  ?  What 
does  its  exercise  now  generate  but  a  spirit  of  intrigue  and 
ambition  on  the  one  hand — of  Ucense,  violence,  and  cor- 
ruption on  the  other  7  What  have  your  popular  elections 
to  office,  as  yet,  produced,  but  a  system  of  electioneering  ? 
— the  very  word  breathing  of  vice  and  venality. 

How  perverted  your  pohtical  institutions  from  their  first 
intent,  let  your  press  declare !  Sold,  alternately,  to  each 
party  and  each  partizan ;  ever  silent  as  respects  principles, 
insolently  bold  as  respects  men.  Visit  not  this  upon  your 
editors.     Let  the  people  take  it  home  unto  themselves. 

The  writers  for  the  public  market  write  for  the  public 
taste.  To  teach  the  truths  they  may  even  distinguish, 
would  be  to  offend  their  readers ;  to  investigate  principles — 
to  treat  of  a  subject  too  novel  to  interest  the  attention  ;  to 
explore  the  actual  condition  of  society,  and  seek  the  means 
for  its  ameUoration,  would  be  to  rouse  the  hostility  of 
wealth,  alarm  the  fears  of  every  speculating  aspirant  after 
the  same,  and  muster  in  battle  array  every  priest,  every 
lawyer,  and  every  poUtician  in  the  land.  While,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  libel  or  to  eulogize  each  pretender  to  public 
favor  is  to  feed  the  credulity  and  curiosity  of  every  mind 
unawakened  to  matters  of  real  interest,  and,  oftimes,  to 
win  credit  for  courage  and  patriotism  (those  prostituted 
words !)  by  the  very  efforts  which  are  more  deeply  corrupt- 
ing the  feelings  and  blinding  the  understandings  of  the 
people  at  home,  and  bringing  into  contempt  the  character 
of  the  nation  abroad. 

When  such  are  the  rewards  awaiting  on  the  worse  and 
on  the  better  part,  are  we  to  marvel  that  the  worse  is 
chosen,  and  the  better  left  ?  When  bribes  are  held  out  to 
slander,  to  intrigue,  to  folly,  and  to  falsehood,  are  we  to 
sit  in  judgment  upon  those  who  follow  where  they  are  led  ? 
So  long  as  the  people  are  blind  to  principles,  will  they  be 


ADDRESS  II.]      FOURTH    OP   JULY,    1829.  195 

deceived  by  men.  So  long  as  they  are  occupied  with 
trifles,  by  triflers  will  they  be  led.  So  long  as  they  neglect 
their  own  interests,  will  their  press,  their  teachers,  and 
their  rulers,  do  the  same. 

I  said  that  I  was  not  here  to  flatter,  and  you  will  think 
that  I  have  kept  my  word.  Doubtless  it  were  more 
pleasing  to  you,  and  less  hazardous  for  me,  to  echo  all  the 
compliments  and  proud  thanksgivings  customary  on  this 
day,  and  which  to  utter  is  to  ensure  popularity ;  to  with- 
hold, to  purchase  cold  looks;  while  to  replace,  as  I  may 
seem  to  have  done,  the  honied  words  of  praise  by  those 
of  censure,  may  be  only  to  win  more  of  that  calumny 
which  my  fellow  beings  have  already  so  bounteously 
bestowed. 

Yet  all  this  am  I  willing  to  meet,  if,  haply,  I  may  be 
instrumental  in  shortening  the  term  of  those  errors  and 
that  apathy  which  now  pervert  your  noble  institutions,  and 
neutralize  the  truths  enshrined  in  this  sacred  heirloom  of. 
your  revolution. 

Your  fathers  proclaimed,  on  the  day  of  which  this  is 
the  fifty-fourth  anniversary,  your  independence  as  a  na- 
tion, and  your  equal  rights  as  members  of  the  human 
family.  To  secure  these  blessings  from  foreign  assault 
and  domestic  attainder,  you  associated  for  the  mutual 
defence  of  your  Hves,  your  property,  the  country  you  in- 
habit, and  that  form  of  government  which  appeared  to 
present  the  greatest  advantages  and  the  fewest  evils.  The 
result  of  this  association  was  your  national  constitution, 
together  with  the  revision  of  all  your  state  constitutions  or 
old  colonial  charters :  the  same  being  always  subject  to 
future  alterations,  curtailments,  or  amendments.  Within 
the  pale  of  these  constitutions,  and  in  the  mode  specified, 
you  decreed  it  should  be  lawful  to  legislate  for  the  correc- 
tion of  evil  and  promotion  of  good.     Of  this  evil  and  this 


W9^  FOURTH    OF   JULY,    1829.       [ADDRESS  II. 

good  you  dedaiedthe  people  to  be  the  only  judges ;  deciding, 
however,  that,  for  the  prevention  of  disorder,  the  opinion 
of  the  majority  should  stand  for  that  of  the  whole  body ; 
and  that  the  view  of  that  majority  should  be  carried  into 
effect  through  the  medium  of  representatives,  chosen  for 
the  express  object. 

This  system,  simple  in  all  its  parts,  evidently  rests  upon 
two  main  positions  :  first,  that  the  people  are  enlightened 
judges  of  their  own  interests — ot,  in  other  words,  that  they 
are^  hy  nature  or  by  education^  fitted  to  distinguish 
the  means  hy  which  the  greatest  happiness  may  he 
produced  to  the  whole  population;  and  secondly,  that 
the  representatives^  through  whom  the  people  legislate^ 
shall  J  in  all  cases^  faithfully  carry  into  effect  the  views 
i)f  the  people  whose  attorneys  they  are. 

Now,  unless  we  suppose  that  all  human  beings  come 
into  the  world  full  grown  in  intellect  and  endowed  with 
foreknowledge,  we  should  certainly  expect  to  find  some 
provision  for  the  just  training  of  their  minds  and  habits  in 
childhood,  with  a  view  to  the  high  character  they  are  des- 
tined in  after  hfe  to  sustain  as  a  self-governing  people,  and 
the  important  duties  they  are  then  to  fulfil  as  citizens,  as 
parents,  and  as  human  beings.  I  say  we  should  expect 
the  same  instrument  which  charges  the  people  with  the 
duties  of  government  to  suggest  the  means  by  which  they 
may  be  fitted  to  fulfil  the  same.  I  say  that  common  sense 
would  lead  us  to  expect  that,  before  legislation,  should 
come  instruction;  even  as  childhood  precedes  manhood, 
and  the  training  of  the  youth  decides  the  character  of  the 
adult. 

It  does  appear  to  me,  then,  that  the  right  of  equal  in- 
struction should  have  been  enumerated  among  those 
human  rights  which  preface  your  constitutional  codes ; 
and  that  the  first  act  of  a  self-governing  people  should 


ADDRESS  II.]      FOURTH   OF   JULY,    1829.  Vif 

have  been  that  of  organizing  a  plan  of  rational  and  re» 
publican  education,  in  unison  with  the  bold  declaration 
we  are  called  on  this  day  to  celebrate,  and  which,  if  prac- 
tically attempted  at  the  close  of  your  revolutionary  struggle, 
would  have  rendered  you,  at  this  hour,  in  fact,  what  you 
are  as  yet  only  in  theory — a  people  equal  in  rights,  free  in 
the  exercise  of  those  rights,  and  happy  in  the  result  of 
that  exercise. 

But  if  ever  we  turn  the  eye  on  the  past,  it  should  be — 
not  idly  to  regret,  but  wisely  to  reform.  The  present  is 
ours ;  the  future  is  before  us.  The  power  that  was  with 
your  fathers  is  with  you.  What  they  omitted,  you,  wise 
by  their  experience  and  your  own,  may  supply.  If  they 
laid  the  foundation^  do  you  lay  the  wrner  stone,  of  the 
republic.  If  they  brake  the  fetters  from  the  limbs,  do  you 
break  them  from  the  mind.  If  they  won  for  their  chil- 
dren the  right  of  free  action,  do  you  give  to  yours  the 
knowledge  to  use  it.  If  they  declared  you  equals  at  the 
birth,  do  you  prepare  the  next  generation  to  be  equals 
through  Ufe.  Extend  to  your  children  the  never  dying 
protection,  the  never  slumbering  care,  of  their  country — 
of  the  nation.  Make  them,  in  tender  infancy,  fellow 
playmates,  fellow  learners,  fellow  laborers ;  so  shall  they, 
when  grown  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  be,  in  thought, 
in  feeling,  in  affection,  fellow  citizens  and  fellow  creatures. 

Much  labor  have  ye  bestowed  in  law  making;  much 
money  have  ye  expended  in  the  same.  Much  time,  much 
temper,  have  ye  wasted  in  canvassing  the  merits  and  de- 
merits of  individuals — in  eulogizing  and  libelling,  by 
turns,  the  very  men  judged  most  worthy  to  fill  the  first 
office  in  your  gift,  until  foreign  nations  must  have  been 
in  doubt  whether  the  people  were  most  void  of  truth  and 
decency,  or  their  rulers  of  honor  and  honesty.  Hot  hath 
been  your  indignation  against  vice,  and  fearful  your  veA- 

r2 


158  FOURTH   OP   JULY,    1829,      [ADDRESS  II. 

geance  against  crime.  Ye  have  given  your  thousands 
to  raise  jails  and  gibbets  for  punishing  sinners  in  this 
world,  and  millions  to  proclaim  their  damnation  in  another. 
Zealous  have  ye  been  to  spread  your  fame  in  foreign 
lands,  and  your  faith  in  the  farthest  regions  of  the  globe. 
Ye  have  covered  the  seas  with  your  ships,  and  the  earth 
with  your  missionaries.  Ye  have  rested  not  until  ye 
rivalled  Britain  in  her  commerce,  in  competitive  labor,  in 
mechanical  ingenuity,  in  the  triumph  of  monied  wealth, 
and  in  the  oppression  of  industry  ;  nor  will  ye  rest,  per- 
haps, until  ye  rival  her  in  riches  and  in  want ;  in  luxury, 
in  pauperism,  and  in  misery. 

Such  have  been  your  doings,  oh  ye  people  ^  under  the 
banner  of  independence  and  of  equal  liberty.  Ye  have  fol- 
lowed the  footsteps  of  aristocratic  nations,  and  their  cha- 
racter and  their  destiny  shall  be  yours. 

Wisdom  and  mercy  forbid  the  fulfilment  of  the  pro- 
phecy !  Noble  charter  of  the  freedom  of  our  race,  do 
thou  forbid  it !  As,  in  the  hands  of  the  past  generation, 
thou  brakest  the  sceptre  of  transatlantic  oppression,  so,  in 
the  hands  of  the  present,  do  thou  break  the  chains  of  our 
vice,  and  hghten  the  darkness  of  our  ignorance  !  As  of  yore 
thou  nervest  the  minds  of  the  fathers  of  this  people  to 
assert  their  rights  before  the  cannon's  mouth,  so  do  thou,  in 
this  day,  inspire  their  children  with  wisdom  yet  more 
justly  to  interpret  the  same,  and  with  courage  to  make 
thy  truths  the  law  of  their  hearts,  and  the  rule  of  their 
lives !  Not  in  words  let  thy  truths  live  alone  !  Not  from 
this  parchment  let  us  learn  the  equal  rights  of  human- 
kind !  Let  the  spirit  which  breathes  from  this  instrument 
animate  our  thoughts  and  our  exertions  !  On  this  day  be 
the  pledge  of  Americans  renewed  !  In  the  deep  solemnity 
of  contrition  for  past  errors  and  past  omissions — in  the 
ardor  of  hope  and  generous  intent  for  the  future,  may  they 


ADDRESS  II.]         FOURTH    OP   JULY,  1829.  199 

breathe  on  this  day  the  vow  of  '76,  and  earn,  by  their 
efforts,  for  the  next  generation,  yet  more  than  they  re- 
ceived from  their  fathers ! 

By  this  charter,  oh  ye  people  !  your  destinies  are  placed 
in  your  own  hands.  By  this  charter  ye  are  free  to  choose 
between  liberty  and  slavery,  knowledge  and  ignorance, 
virtue  and  vice,  happiness  and  misery.  Will  ye  choose 
the  nobler  and  the  better  part?  Prepare  the  only  means  that 
reason  suggests  and  consistency  demands.  Add  to  your 
institutions  what  can  alone  ensure  to  them  permanence, 
dignit)^,  and  utility.  Add  to  your  system  of  repubUcan 
government  one  of  repubhcan  instruction.  Then,  and 
then  alone,  shall  these  United  States  be  a  republic,  and 
their  citizen&^  republicans.  What  hath  been  said  of  other 
nations  is  true  of  this — to  he  free  you  have  hut  to  will  it. 
Legislate  for  the  enfranchisement  of  the  rising  generation 
— you,  who  are  doubly  its  fathers  !  Suspend,  if  needs  be, 
all  other  measures ;  curtail  all  other  expenditures,  postpone 
all  other  improvements,  until  this  first  of  all  duties  be  ful- 
filled by  a  self-governing  people ! 

Enough  have  we  of  churches,  my  fiiends — enough  of 
bridewells  and  jails.  Enough  of  monuments  to  the  dead, 
and  prisons  for  the  hving.  Enough,  and  more  than  enough, 
of  curious  inventions,  time  and  labor-saving  skill.  Let 
us  learn  to  enjoy  the  riches  we  possess  ;  to  distribute  the 
wealth  we  accumulate  ;  to  apply  to  the  benefit  of  man 
the  works  of  his  own  genius.  We  hear  of  internal  im- 
provement. Let  us  have  it ;  let  us  see  it ;  let  us  feel  it — 
in  the  mind.  Let  us,  at  least,  end  where  we  ought  to 
have  begun.  Let  us  suspend  our  refinements  in  machinery, 
our  canals,  and  our  railroads,  which,  at  the  present  time, 
under  existing  arrangements,  only  encourage  monied  spe- 
culation and  stock-jobbing  gambling,  farther  to  crush 
down  productive  industry,  and  to  blind  the  mass  to  the 


200  FOtJRTH   OP   JULY,  1829.         [address  II. 

causes  of  their  ruin.  Let  us  suspend,  I  say,  these  labors 
befitting  a  race  more  advanced  than  ours.  Let  us  turn  to 
the  field  of  human  life,  rank  with  every  poisonous  growth, 
and  thicker  sown,  from  hour  to  hour,  with  seeds  of  cor- 
ruption !  Let  us  turn  to  the  study  of  our  human  condi- 
tion— ^to  the  consideration  of  our  social  existence.  Let  us 
count  all  the  evils  we  have  there  to  remedy,  all  the  obsta- 
cles to  overcome,  all  the  sorrows  to  alleviate,  all  the  wrongs 
to  redress.  To  this  work  of  charity  and  of  duty  let  us 
apply.  Let  us  give  rehef  to  the  widow,  protection  to  the 
orphan,  the  guardianship  of  the  state  to  every  chUd  in  the 
land.  Let  us  assist  oppressed  industry  in  the  discharge  of 
the  parental  duties.  Let  us  form  the  morals,  and  advance 
the  happiness  of  the  nation  by  watching  over  its  educa- 
tion. "  These  things  ought  we  to  do,  and,  then^  not  to 
leave  the  others  undone."  But,  until  these  duties  be  ac- 
complished— until  this  righteous  work  be  achieved — until 
every  son  and  daughter  in  this  galaxy  of  commonwealths 
shall  be  equally  provided  with  the  means  of  instruction — 
shall  be  raised  in  the  habits  of  healthy  industry — ^be  pro- 
tected equally  from  the  sufferings  and  the  vice  attendant 
on  poverty  and  on  riches — be  trained  as  equals  to  under- 
stand and  to  exercise  the  rights  set  forth  in  this  charter — 
all  your  laws  and  your  provisions,  your  preaching  and 
your  punishments,  your  churches,  your  prisons,  your  par- 
tial colleges  and  inefficient  schools,  your  asylums  and  your 
hospitals,  your  restricted  commerce  and  protected  manu- 
factures, your  canals  and  your  raihoads,  your  taxes  and 
your  bounties,  your  inventions  and  your  improvements, 
multiphed  without  object  and  without  end,  will  work  no  real 
benefit  to  man — will  do  nothing  towards  the  alleviation  of 
one  of  the  weighty  evils  which  now  press  on  the  popula- 
tion— will,  and  can,  tend  to  no  other  consequences  than 
ferther  to  vitiate  the  feelings,  confound  the  understandings, 


ADDRESS  II J         FOURTH   OF   JULY,  1829.  ^01 

deprave  the  habits,  and  render  yet  more  disproportiona^ 
the  condition  of  humankind. 

While  wealth  is  considered  distinct  from  enjoyment,  and 
enjoyment  is  calculated  by  the  luxury  of  the  few  instead 
of  the  ease  of  the  many — while  art  and  science  are  ap- 
plied, not  to  reheve  the  labor  of  industry,  but  to  depre- 
ciate its  value— ^while  human  beings  count  but  as  an  ap- 
pendage to  the  machinery  they  keep  in  motion,  and  tne 
tender  strength  and  dawning  intellect  of  infancy  are  crip- 
pled by  forced  labor,  improper  diet,  neglect,  ill  usage,  ^n4 
bad  example,  think  not  that  canals  and  railroads  are 
to  advance  the  nation,  nor  that  steamboats  and  spinning- 
jennies  are  to  save  the  world. 

The  subject  now.  adverted  to  I  have  already  treated  at 
large  in  the  last  discourse  delivered  in  this  9ity  "  on  Ex- 
isting Evils."  But  I  feel  its  importance  too  deeply  npt  to 
recur  to  it  often — not  to  recur  to  it.  especially  on  this  day, 
when  the  past  history,  present  condition,  and  future  pros- 
pects of  the  nation  all  crowd  upon  the  mind.  Conceiving, 
as  I  do,  rational  education  to  comprise  the  whole  duty  of 
man,  to  involve  the  principles  of  all  law,  all  liberty,  all  vir- 
tue, and  all  happiness — to  present  the  only  possible  cure 
for  every  vice  in  our  existing  practice,  error  in  our  opinions, 
and  evil  in  our  condition,  I  could  not,  on  this  day,  speak 
of  your  national  institutions  without  adverting  to  an  omis- 
sion which  it  behoves  you  to  supply,  and  which,  by  the 
light  emitted  from  this  charter,  you  may  see  to  frame  in 
unison  with  human  nature,  with  human  liberty,  and  with 
republican  equality. 

Until  this  great  oversight  be  rectified,  the  revolution  we 
this  day  commemorate  will  be  incomplete  and  insuificient ; 
the  "  declaration"  contained  in  this  instrument  will  be 
void. 

Liberty  shall  exist  only  for  man  when  it  shall  reign  in 
26 


202  FOURTH    OP   JULY,  1829.         [ADDRESS  II. 

the  mind  ;  equality,  when  it  shall  exist  in  our  knowledge, 
in  our  habits,  in  our  enjoyments ;  and  both  these  righteous 
principles,  and  blessed  sources  of  all  individual  security 
and  national  greatness,  shall  only  exist  in  practice  when 
a  self-governing  people  shall  legislate  for  the  equal  in- 
struction,  the  rational  education,  and  the  national  pro- 
tection of  youth.  The  day  on  which  this  righteous  re- 
solve shall  pass  the  senate  of  one  commonwealth  in  the 
Union — ^that  will  be  for  this  nation  what  the  Fourth  of 
July,  '76,  is  now  for  the  world. 

May  the  light  of  knowledge  so  dawn  upon  your  minds, 
my  fellow  citizens !  and  the  spirit  of  freedom  which  erst 
guided  your  fathers  on  this  day,  so  quicken  your  exer- 
tions, that,  to  us  now  present,  it  may  be  given  to  celebrate 
the  decree  which  alone  can  work  out  the  fulfilment  of  this 
declaration,  and  lead  to  the  equal  hberty  and  equal  happi- 
ness of  all  humankind. 


ADDRESS  III. 


pDelivered  at  the  opening  of  the  Hall  of  Science,  New-Tork,  on  Sunday, 
April  26,  1829.] 

The  object  that  assembles  us  here  this  day  is  the  same 
for  which,  through  all  past  ages,  the  wise  have  labored, 
and  the  good  have  suffered.  This  object  it  imports  us 
well  to  understand,  and  steadily  to  keep  in  view.  If  mis- 
conceived, or  if  lost  sight  of,  our  efforts  here  will  be  worse 
than  useless — they  will  be  mischievous ;  in  that  while 
they  fail  of  success,  they  must  bring  discredit  on  the  un- 
dertaking. 

The  words  engraved  over  the  entrance  of  this  building 
define  its  purpose  and  our  object.  Raised  and  consecrated 
to  sectarian  faith,  it  stands  devoted  this  day  to  universal 
knowledge — and  we,  in  crossing  its  threshold,  have  to 
throw  aside  the  distinctions  of  class  ;  the  names  and  feel- 
ings of  sect  or  party  ;  to  recognise,  in  ourselves  and  each 
other,  the  single  character  of  human  beings  and  fellow 
creatures,  and  thus  to  sit  down,  as  children  of  one  family, 
in  patience  to  inquire — in  humility  to  learn. 

What  I  have  here  suggested  as  our  single  object,  may 
appear  too  simple  for  some,  and  prove  too  hard  for  others. 
Oh,  may  it  not  prove  beyond  the  power,  superior  to  the 
reason,  of  us  all ! 

Born  and  reared  as  we  have  been  in  a  world  of  strife  j 
fed  with  error  even  from  the  cradle  ;  encouraged,  alike  by 
precept  and  example,  to  esteem  ourselves  wise  in  our  own 
conceit ;  to  imagine  that  truth  lies  only  in  the  opinions  we 


V 


204  HALL    OP    SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

have  imbibed ;  that  to  be  obstinate  is  to  be  consistent ;  to 
be  disputatious  is  to  be  zealous  ;  to  resent  injuries  is  to 
show  good  courage ;  to  vilify  our  fellow  creatures,  to  prove 
our  own  worthiness ;  to  reprobate  sinners,  to  substantiate 
our  own  morality ;  to  laugh  at  the  folUes  of  others,  to  give 
evidence  of  our  own  wisdom — trained,  I  say,  as  we  have 
be^y  to' judge  and  to  be  judged  in  severity ;  provoked  oft- 
times  by  persecution  to  persecute,  and  driven  by  injustice 
to  misanthropy — ^who  among  us,  the  best  or  the  wisest 
that  shall  have  no  rebetlioiis  spirit  to  quell,  no  watch  to  set 
iipon  ms  lips,  no  internal  censorship  to  execute,  ere  he  can 
enter,  at  peace  with  all  mankind,  the  courts  of  union,  and 
sit  down,  in  sirhpliciiy  oi  heart,  a  pupil  in  the  Hall  of 
Science! 

I  would  not  seem  to  counsel  where  1  would  rather  lis- 
ten, nor  to  teach  where  I  would  rather  learn ;  but  the 
views  and  circumstances,  heretofore  explained,  which 
dalied  irie  foi-th  to  stein  the  tide  of  prejudice,  and  to  enter 
my  protest  against  religious  controversies  and  sectarian 
hostilities,  have  necessarily  exposed  to  my  individual  ob- 
servation all  the  worst  consequences  aiid  tendencies  of  the 
evils  I  have  challenged.  Few  in  these  days,  none  in  this 
country,  have  ventured  morfe,  if  as  much  endured,  for  the 
great,  and  good,  and  solemn  causie  which  assembles  us 
here  this  day.  Let  me,  then,  so  far  presume  as  to  prefer 
to  my  fellow  laborers  in  truth's  vineyard,  a  caution  sug- 
gested at  once  by  all  that  I  have  had  occasion  to  observe 
and  to  experience. 

There  are  who  apprehend  danger  to  the  attempt  now 
made  towards  national  union,  and  moral  and  intellectual 
improvement,  from  the  hostility  of  constituted  authorities 
and  organized  bodies,  tiere  lies  not  ihy  fear.  There  are, 
also,  wno  apprehend  our  failure  from  the  popular  indiffe- 
rence, or  from  the  prevailing  cowardice  and  immorality 


ADDRESS  III.]  HALL   OF   SCIENCE.  205 

which  the  existing  forms  of  society  are  so  calculated  to 
generate.  I  see  no  such  grounds  of  discouragement. 
The  spirit  of  enquiry  is  abroad ;  the  dawn  of  a  brighter 
day  is  kindling  in  the  horizon,  and  the  eyes  of  the  people 
are  opening  to  its  observation.  I  say  of  the  people  ;  of 
that  large,  and,  happily,  sounder  part  of  the  population 
who  draw  their  subsistence  from  the  sweat  of  the  brow, 
and  whose  industry  constitutes  at  once  the  physical 
strength,  and  the  moral  prop  of  the  nation.  No !  my 
fears  look  not  to  the  power  of  the  few,  nor  to  the  indiffe- 
rence of  the  many.  They  look  not,  my  friends,  beyond 
ourselves.  Let  the  soldiers  of  the  van  preserve  at  once 
good  courage  and  good  discipline,  and  the  army  of  the 
nation  shall  follow  its  lead  in  confidence  and  security. 

But  what  must  constitute  our  courage  that  it  be  good  7 
AVe  may  be  bold  and  yet  may  we  be  weak.  The  brave  have 
been  overthrown  in  the  onset  and  in  the  breach,  when  the 
pulses  throbbed  with  enthusiasm,  and  the  word  was  "  vic- 
tory or  death."  There  is  a  courage  better  than  that  of 
valor — it  is  that  of  wisdom ;  which,  seizing  at  once  on 
the  post  to  be  defended,  plants  firm  the  foot,  neither  to  re- 
treat from  it  in  alarm,  nor  to  hurry  past  it  in  zeal.  And 
what  must  supply  our  discipline  ?  Self  government.  Firm 
in  principle,  fixed  in  purpose,  we  must  turn  neither  to  the 
right  nor  to  the  left.  Wise  in  the  choice  of  means,  tem- 
perate in  our  words,  chastened  in  our  feelings,  we  must 
pursue  truth  in  the  path  of  knowledge,  and,  without  dis- 
puting with  errors,  seek  to  substantiate  facts. 

I  am  tempted  on  this  to  speak  farther.  I  am  tempted, 
at  this  commencement  of  our  labors,  to  give  utterance  to 
some  anxious  thoughts  which  the  importance  of  our  enter- 
prise, and  the  circumstances  which  surround  us,  are  cal- 
culated to  inspire.  As  I  have  said,  I  apprehend  not  the 
wrath  of  the  few,  nor  the  indifference  of  the  many.     Pride 


206  HALL    OF   SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

or  passion  will  ever  work  their  own  destruction.  The  more 
strenuous  the  opposition  to  truth,  the  more  speedy  will  be 
its  triumph.  The  efforts  of  a  hierarchy,  the  denunciations 
of  orthodoxy,  or  the  jealousy  of  wealth  and  pretension,  can 
do  nought  against  free  thoughts  and  free  speech  in  a  coun- 
try politically  free.  IVor  is  it  in  such  a  country  that  the 
many  can  be  long  indifferent  to  their  best  interests,  nor 
deaf  to  those  who  would  stimulate  to  their  investigation. 
I  see  the  field  open  before  us.  I  see  no  let  nor  hindrance 
in  the  way  of  our  rapid  progress  and  final  triumph,  but 
such  as  our  own  deficient  virtue  may  breed,  foster,  and  per- 
petuate. 

The  object  we  have  in  view,  namely,  the  acquisition  and 
diffusion  of  knowledge,  is  so  noble,  so  rational,  and  so  pure, 
that,  in  pledging  ourselves  to  its  pursuit,  we  may  feel  ele- 
vated above  all  unworthy  feelings,  and  not  merely  willing, 
but  eager,  to  exchange  passion  for  reason,  and  to  immolate 
selfishness  at  the  shrine  of  the  public  good.  But  enthu- 
siasm, however  ardent  and  pure,  cannot  supply  the  spirit 
which  must  sustain  our  perseverance  and  effect  the  exten- 
sive reform  which  we  have  in  view.  Zeal  may  impart 
energy  to  our  first  movements,  but  will  not  generate  and 
nourish  those  steady  motives  which,  by  sustaining  equal 
and  healthy  exertions,  can  alone  ensure  success.  Anxious, 
as  I  feel  assured  we  all  are,  that  the  spiiit  of  enquiry  now 
kindled  in  the  public  mind  should  be  turned  to  the  best 
account,  and  that  our  efforts  in  this  place  should  be  of 
lasting  benefit  to  the  human  race,  it  seems  advisable,  that, 
at  this  opening  of  our  labors,  we  well  examine,  imtil  we 
distinctly  understand,  both  our  object,  and  the  means  by 
which  it  may  be  attained. 

Our  object  is  simply  and  smgly  the  acquisition  of  know- 
ledge, and  its  diffusion  among  our  fellow  creatures.  My 
previous  exertions  in  this  city,  both  as  a  lecturer  and  a 


ADDRESS  III.]  HALL   OF   SCIENCE,  207 

writer,  have  been  devoted  to  the  developing  the  nature  of 
all  knowledge,  physical  and  moral,  and  to  the  distinguish- 
ing those  first  principles  which  have  been  so  long  and  so 
universally  obscured  by  the  sophisms  of  false  learning — 
the  words,  maxims,  dreams,  and  hypotheses  of  man's  per- 
verted ingenuity.  If  the  general  survey  of  the  field  of 
knowledge,  as  presented  in  my  pubUc  discourses  and  the 
pages  of  the  Free  Enquirer,  be  present  to  your  minds,  our 
object  in  this  place  cannot  be  mistaken.  You  wiU  under- 
stand both  what  knowledge  is,  and  how  it  can  be  ac- 
quired ;  and  you  will  understand,  moreover,  what  investi- 
gations can  be  useful  to  man,  and,  consequently,  suitable 
to  be  followed  in  this  place,  and  what  others  must  neces- 
sarily be  useless,  and,  consequently,  unsuitable.  But,  far 
better  will  you  understand  our  object  here,  and  distinguish 
between  the  profitable  and  profitless  in  human  enquiry, 
when  you  shall  have  entered  on  the  patient  developement 
of  nature's  phenomena,  under  the  guidance  of  your  vari- 
ous scientific  instructors.  I  have  presented  you  only  with 
an  outline  of  the  whole ;  a  general  view  of  that  field  of 
varied  interest  and  untiring  beauty,  through  which  mas- 
ters of  more  practical  experience  and  minute  research  will 
now  undertake  to  lead  you. 

Under  the  wise  direction  of  men  of  science,  honest 
enough  to  reveal  what  they  know,  and  bold  enough  to  be 
silent — (for,  alas  !  in  these  days  of  error  even  silence  may 
be  a  crime  ;)  bold  enough,  I  say,  to  be  silent  where  (hey 
are  ignorant — under  the  guidance  of  such  friends  your 
steps  cannot  err,  and  your  minds  must  gradually  expand 
to  the  perception  of  all  those  truths  most  important  for 
man  to  understand. 

What,  then,  I  am  most  anxious  we  should  bear  in  mind 
is,  that  we  have  all  to  be  learners.  Ask  the  most  expe- 
rienced philosopher,  whose  patient  mind  has  explored  all 


d88  HALL   OF   SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

the  paths  of  discovered  knowledge,  and  added  new  wealth 
to  the  stores  of  the  human  intellect — ask  him,  and  he  will 
tell  you  he  is  yet  a  pupil.  Ask  him,  and  he  will  tell  you 
that  the  span  of  human  Hfe  sufficeth  not  to  explore  the 
whole  even  of  the  observable  wonders  of  nature—  won- 
drous at  least  to  our  limited  perceptions  and  finite  exis- 
tence ;  while,  beyond  the  stretch  of  our  vision,  as  evinced 
by  the  microscope  and  telescope,  he  will  tell  you  that  the 
phenoiAli\a  of  nature  extend  through  the  infinitely  Uttle 
and  the  infinitely  great,  in  duration  and  extension,  without 
Ihnit  as  without  end.  Oh,  who  hath  said  that  science 
teaches  pride,  when  with  her  alone  is  humility !  Who 
hath  said,  that  to  study  the  field  of  nature  can  generate 
self-conceit,  when  he  who  should  know  all  that  by  human 
senses  and  faculties  can  be  known,  would  only  best  imder- 
stand  that  he  knew,  as  it  were,  nothing  ! 
An  ingenious  poet  hath  sung : 

"  A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing ;" 

1  will  not  say  that,  nor  will  I  say : 

*'  Drink  deep  or  taste  not  of  the  spring ;" 

but  this  I  will  say — be  sure  that  ye  mistake  not  between 
what  is  now  esteemed  learning,  and  what  is  knowledge. 
Drink  of  the  right  spring,  and,  drink  little  or  drink  much, 
so  far  as  ye  drink  ye  shall  be  wise.  Yet  this,  above  all 
things:  speculate  not  farther  than  you  know.  Endea- 
vor to  curb  that  futile  curiosity,  which,  fostered  by  a  vicars 
education,  is  ever  winging  the  human  imagination  beyond 
what  the  eye  hath  seen,  the  touch  examined,  and  the 
judgment  compared.  Let  us  unite  on  the  safe  and  sure 
ground  of  fact  and  experiment,  and  we  can  never  err  ;  yet 
beti«r,  we  can  never  differ.     Let  us  investigate  within 


ADDRESS  HI.]  HALL   OP    SCIENCE.  209 

these  walls  what  are  to  us  all  realities,  and  will  yield  to  us 
all  useful  truths.  The  field  of  nature  is  before  us  to  ex- 
plore ;  the  world  of  the  human  heart  is  with  us  to  examine. 
In  these  lie  for  us  all  that  is  certain,  and  all  that  is  impoc^ 
tant. 

What  matter  to  us  by  what,  by  whom,  for  how  long, 
from  whence,  to  what  limits  of  space,  through  what  extent 
of  time,  the  vast  ethereal,  in  which  our  atom  globe  per- 
forms its  revolutions,  is  peopled  with  sentient  existence. 
How  may  we  decide  whether  genii,  or  demigods,  or  beings 
unnamed  and  unconceived,  live,  and  breathe,  and  exult  in 
life  through  all  the  bright  worlds  which  stud  our  starlit 
heaven  ?  Nay,  or  could  we  decide,  how  should  the  know- 
ledge profit  us  in  this  our  removed,  but,  to  us,  all  sufficient 
sphere  ?  Were  our  human  attainments,,  indeed,  co-exten- 
sive with  human  observation,  and  our  human  wisdom  all 
sufficient  for  our  human  exigencies,  then  might  there  be 
some  apology  for  our  borrowing  the  kaleidoscope  of  fancy, 
and  gazing,  through  it,  into  the  moon  and  beyond  the  stars. 
Were  all  our  human  duties  understood  and  fulfilled,  all  the 
joys  of  earth  developed,  and  its  woes  removed,  then  might 
those  speculations  be  more  excusable,  which  now  steal  oxxx 
attention  and  our  sympathies  from  the  sphere  we  occupy, 
and  the  fellow  creatures,  whose  wants,  interests,  joys  and 
sorrows  should  be  all  our  own. 

But  how  far  we  are  from  this  fulness  of  human  know- 
ledge and  human  happiness,  let  nature  with  all  her  unex- 
plored phenomena — let  earth  with  aU  her  wrongs  and  aU 
her  miseries — let  our  own  hearts  with  all  their  bitterness 
— our  own  minds  with  aU  their  prejudices,  bear  witness 
and  attest.  Oh,  then,  let  us,  in  this  place  at  least,  lay 
aside  dreaming,  and  apply  to  observing  !  Not  that  I  would 
presumptuously  dispute,  or  uselessly  reason,  with  the 
dreams  of  any  fellow  creature :  I  would  simply  lead  ail  to 
s2  27 


210  HALL    OF   SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

distinguish  between  their  dreams  and  their  knowledge,  to 
estimate  the  value  of  the  one,  and  the  futility  of  the  other, 
and  to  perceive  that  within  the  horizon  of  human  obser- 
vation we  may  all  enquire  with  profit,  and  in  fellowship ; 
without  that  horizon  only  with  danger  of  error,  and  with 
certainty  of  differing. 

Seeing,  then,  the  useful  discoveries  to  be  made  in  the 
world  of  nature  as  existing  without  us,  and  the  world  of 
the  human  heart  as  existing  within  us,  and  seeing,  also, 
the  interminable  disputes  fomented  by  enquiry  abstracted 
from  these,  let  us  preserve  our  popular  meetings  in  this 
place  uncontaminated  and  undistracted  by  religious  dis- 
cussions or  opinionative  dissensions. 

I  would  apply  this  exhortation  equally  to  the  sceptic  as 
to  the  believer,  and  to  the  believer  as  to  the  sceptic.  Are 
we  believers  ?  Let  us  believe  as  we  may,  but  let  us  l^elieve 
peacefully,  in  the  depths  of  the  heart,  that  our  belief  offend 
not  that  of  our  neighbor.  Do  we  see  with  the  eye  of 
faith  ?  Let  us  see  what  we  may,  and  dream  what  we 
will,  but  let  us  dream  at  home.  In  our  own  closets  be 
our  worship,  whether  of  god  or  gods,  saints,  angels,  pro- 
phets, or  blessed  virgins ;  but  here — ^here,  in  the  hall  of 
union,  sacred  to  peace  and  to  knowledge,  let  us  study  that 
book  which  all  can  read,  and,  reading,  none  dispute — ^the 
field  of  nature,  and  the  tablet  of  the 'human  mind.  Or, 
on  the  other  hand,  have  we  learned  to  doubt  the  lessons  of 
books,  and  the  laws  of  men,  let  us  beware  in  what  spirit 
we  set  forth  our  scepticism,  lest,  haply,  while  discarding 
the  dogmas,  we  retain  the  dogmatism,  and  lend,  even  to 
truth,  the  tone  of  presumption,  and  the  spirit  of  error. 

It  follows  not,  that  in  having  lost  some  of  our  creduUty, 
we  must  have  lost  our  intolerance,  nor  that  in  correcting 
some  of  our  opinions,  we  must  have  changed  our  feelings, 
and  amended  our  habits.     The  effects  of  erroneous  edu- 


ADDRESS  III.]  HALL   OP   SCIENCE.  21,1 

cation,  and  the  influence  of  unfavourable  circumstance 
are,  more  or  less,  with  us  all.  As  beUevers,  we  have  learn- 
ed censoriousiiess  with  our  creed  of  faith ;  as  heretics  or 
sceptics,  we  have  learned  intolerance  from  persecution. 
Judging  or  judged,  inflicting  or  enduring,  our  bosoms  have 
been  filled  with  bitterness  from  our  youth  up  ;  our  hearts 
estranged  from  each  other,  and  our  thoughts  still  bent 
rather  on  proving  others  wrong,  than  on  seeking  the  right 
for  ourselves.  It  is  for  this  cause — ^it  is  for  the  frailties  of 
temper,  the  errors  of  judgment,  the  harshness  of  feeling 
existing  in  us  all,  that  I  would  deprecate  in  this  place  all 
discussions  of  speculative  or  abstract  opinion.  Were  we 
all  reasonable,  gentle,  indulgent,  to  discuss  any  or  all  sub- 
jects, real  or  imaginary,  might  be  useful,  or,  at  the  least, 
amusing ;  but  while  we  are  all  irrational,  perverse,  ill  na- 
tured,  violent,  prone  to  misinterpret,  to  offend  in  our  man- 
ner, to  irritate  in  our  language,  to  wound  and  to  be  wound- 
ed, to  give  and  to  receive  alarm,  to  judge  ourselves  in  pride, 
and  others  with  contempt — ^while  we  are  as  we  are,  and  as 
all  we  see,  or  hear,  or  experience,  in  an  ill  regulated  state 
of  society,  combines  to  keep  us,  we  are  unfit  to  grapple 
with  each  other's  thoughts — ^ill  prepared  to  ehcit  truth  by 
the  shock  of  opinions  in  the  subtle  field  of  argument. 

I  mean  not  altogether  to  condemn  religious  discussions 
while  the  world  is  overrun  with  conflicting  rehgious  super- 
stitions ;  but,  methinks,  in  our  popular  meetings,  I  would 
condemn  them  here.  We  must  bear  in  mind,  that  we 
come  together  in  this  place  as  members  of  a  family  long 
divided  and  estranged  by  feuds  and  strifes  ;  that  we  see 
in  each  other  wanderers  from  every  school  of  faith — it 
may  be  Jews,  Christians,  deists,  materiahsts,  with  every 
variety  of  sect  and  class  existing  within  the  pale  of  each. 
Surely,  then,  prudence,  if  no  higher  virtue,  demands  that 
we  set  a  watch  upon  our  lips,  lest,  haply,  we  offend  where 


Kft     "  HALL   OF   SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

it  is  our  object  to  conciliate,  and  divide  where  we  are  as- 
sembled to  unite. 

Permit  me  here  to  reiterate  an  observation  which  I  have 
already  had  frequent  occasion  to  prefer,  that  the  only  sure 
way  to  correct  erroneous  opinions  is  to  present  facts  to  the 
mind.  The  more  we  know,  the  less,  in  the  popular  sense 
of  the  word,  do  we  believe.  The  better  we  vmderstand 
the  phenomena  of  nature  in  the  visible  and  tangible  world 
without  us,  and  in  the  mental,  moral,  and  physical  world 
within  us,  the  more  just  and  perspicuous  must  be  all  our 
ideas. 

It  is  possible,  indeed,  to  subvert,  by  process  of  reasoning, 
many  human  superstitions,  and  to  confute  by  the  ad  ab- 
surdum  many  books,  maxims,  and  statutes  honored  as 
wise,  or  worshipped  as  divine.  But  let  us  remember,  that 
to  expose  errors  is  not  necessarily  to  distinguish  truths;  a 
train  of  deductive  logic  may  suffice  for  the  one,  but  dispas- 
sionate observation  and  accurate  knowledge  can  alone 
suffice  for  the  other. 

I  know  that,  up  to  this  hour,  the  least  safe  and  the 
least  effectual  method  of  disengaging  the  popular  mind 
of  error  has  been  the  one  employed.  This  has  been,  per- 
haps, the  necessary  result  of  the  system  of  religious  teach- 
ing so  long  prevalent ;  the  nature  of  the  evil  suggesting 
that  of  the  remedy,  and  the  virulence  of  the  clergy,  strug- 
gling, at  one  and  the  sam.e  time,  for  the  profits  and  the 
tenets  of  their  craft,  provoking,  perhaps,  an  excusable,  but 
certainly  an  objectionable,  hostihty  on  the  part  of  their 
opponents.  While  the  advocates  of  mental  darkness 
found  their  strength  in  teaching  rehgious  opinions,  the 
friends  to  mental  enfranchisement  might  naturally  be 
tempted  to  seek  theirs  in  teaching  the  opposite.  But,  as  I 
have  already  attempted  to  show,  in  my  introductory  dis- 
courses to  the  p/eople  of  this  city,  opinions,  whether  true 


ADDRESS  III.J  HALL  OP   SCIENCE.  213 

or  false,  are  no  proper  subject  for  teaching  at  all.  We  have 
each  of  us  to  form  our  own,  and  we  must  each  of  us  form 
our  own,  if  we  would  really  understand  what  our  opinions 
are — know  their  foundation,  and  perceive  their  practical 
consequences.  All  that  a  judicious  instructor  will  attempt 
is  to  present  to  the  mind,  in  suitable  train  and  order,  such 
evidence  as  is  supplied  by  nature  herself — in  other  words, 
to  fertilize  the  intellect  with  knowledge,  and  to  leave  it  to 
draw,  on  all  subjects,  its  own  free,  fair,  and  unbiassed 
conclusions. 

The  practice,  but  too  generally  followed  up  to  this  hour, 
of  promulgating  laws,  establishing  creeds,  laying  down 
maxims,  and  teaching  opinions^  has  tended  to  affect  our 
species  with  a  mental  paralysis. 

Accustomed  to  receive  our  knowledge,  so  called,  from 
the  ipse  dixit  of  books,  instead  of  seeking  it  for  ourselves 
in  the  bosom  of  nature  and  the  occurrences  passing  around 
us,  and,  again,  to  receive  our  opinions  from  the  nurse,  the 
schoolmaster,  or  the  priest,  we  but  too  often,  nay,  but  too 
universally,  live  and  die  without  exercising  more  of  our 
faculties  than  our  memory  and  our  imagination — closing 
our  eyes  upon  this  beautiful  world,  and  resigning  our 
human  existence,  ignorant  alike  of  the  treasures  so  thickly 
strewed  in  the  one,  and  the  powers  inherent  in  the  other. 
So  dead,  or,  rather,  so  unawakened  within  us,  are  the 
nobler  faculties  of  observation  and  judgment,  that,  even 
if  aroused  for  a  moment  to  doubt  the  authorities  before 
which  we  were  trained  in  infancy  to  bow  our  reason,  we 
still  shrink  from  the  labor  of  being  an  authority  to  our- 
selves, and,  at  one  and  the  same  moment  that  we  turn 
from  the  priest,  have  recourse  to  the  philosopher — wiUing 
to  see  with  his  eyes,  to  hear  with  his  ears,  and  to  think 
with  his  thoughts,  so  that  we  may  but  escape  the  labor  of 
exercising  our  own.     Like  the  vain  and  impatient  tyrant 


S14  HALL   OF   SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

of  antiquity,  we  must  still  ask  of  our  instructor,  not  a  royal 
road  to  the  truths  of  geometry  alone,  but  to  all  truths  in 
matter  or  in  mind.  We  would  know  all  things  without 
examining  any  thing,  and,  above  all,  Httle  curious  of  the 
knowledge  which  is  useful  and  attainable,  we  must  ever 
crave  that  which  neither  concerns  us  nor  has  an  existence 
for  us. 

Truly,  if  we  consider  the  state  of  our  own  minds— our 
willingness,  nay,  our  very  anxiety,  to  be  bitted,  and 
bridled,  and  led  through  any  of  error's  labyrinths,  rather 
than  to  seek  for  ourselves  the  paths  of  truth — truly,  I  say, 
considering  our  own  indolence  and  our  own  gullibility,  we 
have  small  reason  to  exclaim  against  the  presumption  of 
priests  or  the  dishonesty  of  teachers.  Methinks  we  should 
rather  bless  their  moderation  for  cheating  us  so  httle  in 
proportion  to  our  credulity,  and  riding  us  so  gently  if  com- 
pared with  our  slavishness  !  The  marvel  is,  (permit  me  the 
freedom,)  not  that  we  should  encounter  much  knavery, 
but  that  we  should  meet  with  some  honesty.  The  marvel 
is,  that  any  should  honor  truth  so  much  and  love  man  so 
well,  as  to  attempt  the  enhghtening  of  ignorance  or  the 
correcting  of  error,  without  either  tiring  of  the  task  or  be- 
traying the  cause. 

Easy  were  that  task  and  rapidly  triumphant  that  cause, 
could  we  understand  that  correct  opinions  may  be  found 
only  through  knowledge,  and  that  the  task  of  the  in- 
structor is  only  to  show  us  facts,  and  thus  to  lead  us  to  first 
principles.  But,  so  accustomed  are  we  to  be  crammed 
with  opinions  and  dictated  to  in  beUef,  that  the  faithful  guide 
who  may  refuse  to  feed  our  diseased  appetite  may  hardly 
win  our  ears,  or  command  our  sickly  attention.  Would 
he  point  to  those  interesting  phenomena  to  which  our 
eyes  are  now,  as  it  were,  hermetically  sealed,  he  is  met  by 
the  question — what  god  he  worships.    Is  it  explained  to 


ADDRESS  III.]  HALL    OF   SCIENCE.  215 

US  that  cause  and  effect  are  words,  either  without  mean- 
ing, or  expressive  simply  of  the  train  of  occurrences  and 
succession  of  changes  ever  taking  place  around  or  within 
us,  we  ask  of  our  teacher,  if  he  believes  ifi  a  first  cause. 
Does  a  moraUst  instigate  us  to  investigate  the  numerous 
ills  which  afflict  our  existence,  and,  with  a  view  to  the 
remedy  of  these,  to  study  the  physiology  of  our  own 
bodies,  the  operations  of  our  own  minds,  and  then  to  dis- 
tinguish what  in  human  practice  is  in  violation  and  what 
in  unison  with  the  laws  of  our  being,  he  is  interrupted  by 
enquiries  as  to  his  belief  in  the  distinct  existence  of  a 
soul  and  its  future  immortality  in  another  world.  The 
disappointed  instructor  in  vain  interrupts  the  train  of  his 
observations  to  explain,  that,  as  his  knowledge  is  neces- 
sarily bounded  by  the  horizon  of  his  observation,  so  his 
instruction  can  extend  no  farther  than  his  knowledge ;  and 
that  when  he  shall  have  communicated  all  the  facts 
gleaned  in  his  studies,  it  will  rest  with  his  pupils  to  draw 
such  conclusions  as  those  facts  may  generate.  Instead  of 
appreciating  the  respect  thus  paid  to  human  truth  and 
human  liberty,  his  hearers,  accustomed  by  long  habit  to 
submit  their  reasons  to  whomsoever  will  take  the  trouble 
to  ride  them,  find  perchance  offence  in  that  he  will  not 
feed  their  curiosity  by  tampering  with  their  creduhty,  nor 
spare  them  the  necessary  labor  of  mastering  the  sciences, 
and  studying  human  life  in  conjunction  with  the  human 
frame,  in  order  that  they  may  think  on  all  subjects  fOr 
themselves. 

But  let  the  friends  of  man  be  of  good  courage  in  a 
good  cause.  Let  them  not  faint  with  weariness  under  the 
heedlessness  of  folly,  the  obstinacy  of  error,  nor  the  seem- 
ing ingratitude  of  ignorance.  Above  all,  let  them  not 
swerve  from  the  strait  and  clear  path  in  which  it  must  be 
their  aim  to  lead  the  erring  and  warring  family  of  human- 


StU  HALL   OP   SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

kind.  Let  them  be  true  to  themselves  as  children  of 
science — ^true  to  their  fellow  creatures  as  the  simple  ex- 
pounders of  nature,  and,  by  slow  degrees,  the  ears  of  men 
shall  be  won,  and  their  minds  composed  to  reflection. 

I  am  aware  of  the  common  persuasion  that  science  re- 
gards only  what  are  called  scientific  men — which  meansj 
in  plain  language,  that  knowledge  is  only  good  to  he 
made  a  trade  of.  It  seems  in  the  order  of  things, 
that  the  surgeon  should  understand  the  structure  of 
our  frame,  in  order  that  he  may  repair  it  if  injured; 
that  the  physician  should  study  its  physiology  and  pa- 
thology, in  order  to  heal  it  if  diseased.  But  it  strikes  us 
not,  that  did  we  ourselves  possess  the  same  knowledge,  we 
might  oft  prevent  both  the  injury  and  the  disease,  or  apply, 
ourselves,  the  remedy.  It  seems  natural  that  the  mechani- 
cian should  study  mechanics,  the  pharmacian  chemistry, 
the  lawyer  law,  the  priest  religion ;  not  perceiving  that, 
while  each  part  and  parcel  of  human  learning  remains 
confined  to  its  ostensible  professors,  the  public  at  large  has 
no  means  of  estimating  its  real  value,  nor  the  possessor 
himself  of  understanding  all  its  bearings  and  relations,  dis- 
tinguishing its  truths,  or  detecting  its  fallacies.  Not  seeing, 
also,  that,  in  this  manner,  every  facility  is  afforded  to  the 
crafty  and  the  superficial  to  palm  upon  society  deficiency 
for  skill,  or  error  for  truth.  Not  seeing,  moreover,  that  all 
the  real  sciences  are  so  related  and  conjoined,  that  no  indi- 
vidual can  thoroughly  understand  any  one,  without  some 
general  acquaintance  with  aU.  Not  perceiving,  in  fine, 
that  it  is  in  the  absence  of  this  general  acquaintance,  that 
false  knowledge,  pretended  science,  erroneous  institutions, 
unwise  expenditures,  absurd  customs,  and  every  species  of 
fraud  and  folly  obtain  among  men,  and  are  handed  down, 
from  parent  to  child,  like  the  heirlooms  of  aristocracy  in 
feudal  Europe. 


ADDRESS  III.J  HALL    OP   SCIENCE.  217 

But  I  am  aware,  also,  that  the  word  science  is  associated 
in  the  popular  mind  with  mental  fatigue,  abstract  study, 
and  scholastic  application.  True  it  is,  that,  according  to 
the  method  of  instruction  now  usually  followed,  all  these 
charges  may  be  brought,  with  more  or  less  truth,  against 
every  useful,  no  less  than  every  ornamental,  acquirement. 
Yet,  I  think,  those  who  have  attended  the  opening  classes 
already  held  in  this  building,  under  all  the  disadvantages 
of  deficient  accommodation  and  imperfect  arrangement, 
will  incline  to  admit,  that  the  acquisition  and  imparting  of 
knowledge  is  not  necessarily  the  dry,  abstruse,  and  unin- 
teresting occupation  that  the  perverted  ingenuity  of  our 
ancestors  had  contrived  to  make  it.  I  am  tempted  here 
to  borrow  the  words  of  a  teacher,  whose  lucid  genius 
would  reflect  honor  on  the  country  which  gave  him  birth, 
could  genius  belong  to  any  country,  which  more  truly 
belongs  to  the  world.  "  Philosophy,"  says  Alexander  B. 
Johnson,  in  his  lectures  on  language,  as  delivered  in  Utica. 
New- York,  "  philosophy  is  not  necessarily  the  frowning, 
sluggish  divinity  that  her  ministers  have  injudiciously  re- 
presented. Her  dress  may  be  splendid,  her  decorations 
brilliant ;  the  clearest  light  should  always  illuminate  her 
throne,  and  disputation  be  banished  from  her  presence." 

Be  it  our  object,  then,  to  disenrobe  philosophy  of  the 
cumbrous  disguise  with  which  human  error  hath  veiled 
her  features,  and  to  present  her  in  all  her  native  loveli- 
ness— heightened,  polished,  and  enhanced  by  all  the  glow 
and  the  grace  which  judicious  genius  may  know  to  im- 
part ;  but  never  distorted  by  the  whimsical  and  meretri- 
cious ornaments  of  depraved  taste  or  perverted  ingenuity. 
Be  it  our  object  to  discover  truths  where  alone  they  are  to 
be  found,  in  the  bosom  of  nature  ;  and  let  us  understand, 
that  without  a  perception  of  these  truths — that  is,  without 
a  general  view  of  the  whole  range  of  the  sciences — we  can 
T  28 


218  HALL   OF    SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

neither  judge  ourselves  nor  our  fellow  creatures,  possess 
any  opinion,  nor  pursue  any  practice,  in  full  certainty  of 
its  justice  towards  others  and  its  utility  to  ourselves. 

To  obtain  and  impart  this  general  view  of  the  whole 
field  of  human  knowledge,  is  the  object  of  this  institution. 
Whenever,  therefore,  this  building  shall  be  occupied  by  a 
teacher,  nominated  by  the  trustees  as  a  popular  instructor, 
it  would  appear  to  me  desirable  that  his  subject  should 
be  invariably  one  of  explanation,  not  of  disputation — one 
whose  text  shall  be  chosen  within  the  pale  of  knowledge, 
not  sought  in  the  limbo  of  opinions. 

Whenever  this  building  shall  not  be  occupied  for  the 
popular  meetings  under  the  direction  of  the  trustees,  it 
will  be  open  for  the  use  of  any  respectable  teacher,  be  his 
subject  what  it  may.  Orthodoxy  itself,  if  the  day  should 
ever  come  (which  good  sense  and  good  feeling  avert)  that 
it  should  be  driven  forth  as  have  been  the  advocates  of 
truth,  from  house  to  house,  until  every  door  is  shut  against 
them — let  orthodoxy  itself  here  find  a  refuge,  and  win,  if 
it  can,  the  ears  and  hearts  of  men  by  the  threats  and  de- 
nunciations of  its  gospel. 

For  objecting  to  religion,  either  as  a  topic  of  discussion 
or  subject  of  instruction  in  our  popular  meetings,  I  would 
prefer  two  reasons :  first,  that  religion  appertains  not  to  the 
table  of  himian  knowledge ;  and  secondly,  that  we  see  it 
every  where  give  rise  to  interminable  disputes  and  all 
varieties  of  bad  feehng. 

For  objecting  to  party  poUtics,  I  should  prefer  the  same 
reasons.  They  have  nothing  to  do  with  knowledge,  and 
every  tiling  to  do  with  quarrelling. 

Opinions  apart  firom  facts,  and  men  apart  from  princi- 
ples, may  assist  vanity  to  a  field  of  display,  ambition  to 
one  of  power  or  profit,  and  passion  to  one  of  contention, 
but  can  never  supply  matter  of  interest  to  a  people  simply 


ADDRESS  lU.]  HALL   OF   SCIENCE.  219 

and  honestly  desirous  of  improvement,  and  aiming  at 
union.  We  cannot  enter  the  hall  of  science  to  learn  nor 
to  teach  Christianity,  nor  Judaism,  nor  Islamism,  nor  pa- 
ganism, nor  deism,  nor  materialism ;  we  can  enter  it  only 
to  study  the  world  we  hve  in,  to  study  ourselves  as  inha- 
bitants of  that  world,  and  to  form  our  opinions  in  confor- 
mity with  the  results  of  our  studies. 

I  have  said — to  study  ourselves.  Oh,  my  fellow  be- 
ings, what  a  study  is  here !  What  a  field  of  discovery — 
what  a  world  unexplored  is  that  of  our  own  being! 
What  truths  yet  unperceived,  what  duties  unexercised, 
what  faculties  unimproved,  what  delights  unenjoyed,  are 
in  the  nature — the  neglected,  the  slandered,  the  perverted, 
the  outraged  nature  of  man ! 

Let  not  bold  enquiry  apprehend  that  the  field  of  human 
knowledge  is  confined  in  its  horizon,  and  uninteresting  in 
its  details.  While  every  path  is  rich  with  treasures  and 
rich  with  novelty,  there  is  one — and  that  the  noblest  and 
the  fairest — on  which  the  restless  mind  of  man  hath 
barely  thrown  a  glance. 

The  master  science — the  centre  path  and  fairest  avenue 
in  the  field  of  knowledge,  and  from  which  and  into  which 
all  others,  if  rightly  followed,  would  be  found  to  branch 
and  converge — the  science  of  human  life  remains  to  this 
hour  in  its  infancy.  We  have  dived  into  the  secrets  of 
external  nature — we  have  pierced  the  blue  ether  and 
tracked  the  courses  and  revolutions  of  its  planets,  its  sys- 
tems, its  comets,  and  its  universe  of  suns  ;  we  have  laid 
bare  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  disclosed  their  hidden  trea- 
sures, and  brought  to  light  the  past  phenomena  of  pri- 
meval worlds ;  we  have  passed  around  our  globe  and  ex- 
plored its  realms  and  climates  through  the  scorching 
tropics  to  the  icy  barrier  of  the  poles ;  we  have  torn  the 
lightning  from  the  clouds,  and  jewels  from  the  depths  of 


220  HALL    OP   SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

the  ocean ;  we  have  bowed  the  elements  to  our  will,  and, 
appropriating  and  guiding  their  strength,  have  achieved 
more  than  the  fabled  exploits  of  demigods,  or  the  miracles 
of  prophets  and  saints — we  have,  in  truth,  in  ingenuity 
proved  ourselves  magicians,  in  power  all  but  gods  ;  yet  is 
our  knowledge  only  ignorance,  and  our  wisdom  that  of 
babes,  seeing  that  while  exploring  the  universe  we  have 
left  unexplored  the  human  heart,  and  wliile  mastering  the 
earth  we  have  still  to  master  ourselves. 

Oh  !  let  us  not  fear,  that  within  the  atmosphere  of  our 
own  world,  in  the  powers  and  wants  of  our  own  nature, 
and  in  the  woes  of  human  life,  as  originating  in  human 
error,  that  we  may  not  find  a  field  of  enquiry  more  than 
sufficient  to  fill  our  time,  enchain  our  thoughts,  and  call 
into  action  every  latent  faculty  and  feeling  of  our  nature. 

Let,  then,  morals,  or  the  science  of  human  life,  as- 
sume, among  a  people  boasting  themselves  free,  (and  free, 
rightly  interpreted,  would  mean  rational^)  the  place  of  re- 
ligion. Let  us,  instead  of  speculating  and  disputing 
where  we  can  discover  nothing,  observe  and  enquire  where 
we  can  discover  every  thing. 

Surely  it  befits  a  people  acknowledging  political  hberty, 
to  investigate  the  meaning  of  the  word,  and  the  power  in- 
volved in  the  principle.  Surely  it  concerns  a  people  claim- 
ing equal  rights  to  examine  how  they  may  exert  those 
rights  with  a  view  to  equal  benefit.  What  has  been  done 
towards  this,  let  the  state  of  society  attest.  How  far  we 
have  studied  human  hfe  as  a  science,  let  our  human  con- 
dition bear  witness.  How  far  the  people  of  this  land  have 
improved  their  repubhcan  institutions,  or  reduced  to  prac- 
tice the  declaration  of  '76,  let  the  state  of  society  declare. 
We  speak  of  equality,  and  we  are  divided  into  classes ;  of 
self-government,  and  we  fit  not  ourselves  to  govern.  We 
hear  of  law  and  legislation,  and  the  mass  of  the  people  un- 


,* 


ADDRESS  IIlJ  HALL   OP  SCIENCE.  221 

derstand  not  the  one,  and  take  no  interest  in  the  other. 
We  complain  of  existing  evils,  and  seek  neither  their 
source  nor  their  remedy ;  we  see  pauperism  on  the  increase, 
and  vice  travelling  in  her  footsteps,  and  we  ask  only  for 
more  jails  and  larger  poorhouses. 

Say,  have  we  suggested  here  no  subjects  of  interesting 
enquiry  and  profitable  investigation  ?  Should  a  self-go- 
verning people  not  understand  the  nature  and  object  of 
government  ?  Should  they  charter  representatives  to  make 
statutes  in  the  dark;  and,  leaving  lawyers  to  interpret  the 
laws  which  lawyers  have  made,  rest  satisfied  to  obey  the 
reading  of  which  we  see  not  the  justice  7  Should  they 
permit  taxation  and  encourage  contributions,  without  direct- 
ing the  stream  of  their  subtracted  wealth  into  channels  of 
national  utility?  Should  they  profess  equal  representa- 
tion, and  possess  no  equal  instruction?  Or,  not  possessing 
equal  instruction,  should  they  profess  equal  rights? 

All  these,  and  more  questions,  it  behoves  us  to  ask  and 
to  answer.  Every  contradiction  and  deficiency  in  our  in- 
stitutions it  concerns  us  to  discover,  and  discovering,  to  sup- 
ply or  to  remedy.  Here  may  the  good  work  begin.  Here 
may  we  commence  the  work  of  reform  by  fitting  our- 
selves to  be  reformers.  Here,  stud3ring  our  common  nature 
as  human  beings,  our  common  interests  as  fellow  citizens, 
may  we  present  to  a  republican  people  a  first  example  of 
republican  miion  and  repubUcan  enquiry.  Here,  too,  let 
our  efforts  but  be  sustained,  and  we  may  present  a  first 
sample  of  that  repubUcan  instruction  whose  dawn  shall 
bring  hope  to  the  nation,  and  in  whose  fulness  shall  be  sal- 
vation. 

Far  off  may  be  the  day  of  universal  peace  and  univer- 
sal knowledge ;  but  every  effort  made,  and  every  word 
spoken,  approaches  us  to  its  dawn.  And  even  now  see  we 
not  omens  of  that  dawn  ?  Feel  we  not  something  stir- 
t2 


'222  HALL  OP  SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

ring  in  the  air  ?  Hear  we  not,  from  time  to  time,  some 
i  faint  but  spirit-stirring  sounds  prophetic  of  the  light,  and 
the  hfe,  and  the  animation  which  are  to  come  ?  See  we 
not  ears  opening?  Perceive  we  not  imderstandings 
awakening?  Is  not  the  spirit  of  enquiry  abroad,  and 
shall  not  the  truths  which  would  now  startle  the  ear,  ere 
long  sink  into  the  heart  ?  All  things  may  we  hope  for 
man,  should  our  efforts  in  this  place  be  successful.  Let 
us  water  the  seed  we  have  planted,  and  from  it  shall 
spring  a  tree  whose  branches  will  shadow  the  land.  Let 
us  be  true  to  the  cause  we  have  espoused,  and  it  shall  con- 
quer the  world.  Let  us  preserve  union  and  pursue  truth, 
distinct  from  class  or  sect,  or  opinionative  association,  and 
yearly,  monthly,  daily  shall  we  wax  in  strength,  and  our 
opponents  grow  fewer  and  weaker.  There  is  no  backsli- 
ding in  knowledge.  The  human  mind  cannot  unlearn 
facts,  nor  forget  first  principles.  The  reason,  once  cleared 
of  prejudice  by  means  of  science,  can  never  re-enter  within 
the  fogs  of  error.  She  will  not  experience  seasons  of 
darkness,  doubts,  and  misgivings;  require  the  stirring 
cadis  of  supernatural  grace,  or  the  frenzied  fits  and  hyste- 
ria of  miraculous  revivals.  Her  operations  are  silent, 
peaceful,  certain,  ever  enduring,  ever  gathering  in  light,  in 
strength,  in  security.  Let  us,  then,  gather  under  her 
peaceful  standard,  and  present  a  point  of  union  to  which 
gradually  all  of  the  present  generation,  not  absolutely  lost 
to  reason  and  common  sense,  and,  yet  more  especially,  all 
the  young  and  the  ingenuous,  may  gather,  until  the  na- 
tion, collected  in  her  might,  prepares,  through  enlightened 
legislatures,  for  the  training  together  as  one  family,  all  the 
children  of  the  land  in  national  or  state  institutions. 

Then,  in  that  day,  shall  we  see  equality  !  Then,  in  that 
day,  shall  we  possess  liberty — ^beyond  the  fear  of  loss,  be- 
yond the  possibility  of  assault !     Then  shall  we  dwell 


ADDRESS  III.]  HALL    OP    SCIENCE. 

in  a  free  country  !  Then  shall  we  be  a  free  and  virtuous^ 
a  self-governing  and  self-respecting  people;  for  then  shall 
we  be  an  enlightened  people. 

There  is  no  halfway  in  these  matters.  There  is  no 
liberty  for  any  until  there  is  liberty  for  all.  There  is  no 
surety  for  liberty  but  only  in  equality.  And  let  us  remem- 
ber, that  there  is  no  equahty  but  what  has  its  seat  in  the 
mind  and  feelings.  All — all  is  there — virtue,  honor, 
truth,  law,  liberty  and  knowledge  !  Build  up  these  in  the 
human  breast,  and  we  shall  see  human  beings  walk  up- 
rightly. 

Your  institutions  may  declare  equality  of  rights,  but  we 
shall  never  possess  those  rights  until  you  have  national 
schools.  Your  legislatures  may  enact  prohibitory  laws, 
and  laws  offensive  and  defensive,  protective  or  invasive,  it 
matters  little  which  ;  our  hberties  will  never  be  secure,  for 
they  will  never  be  understood,  until  you  have  national 
schools.  Your  spiritual  teachers  may  preach  damnation 
and  salvation  henceforward  through  all  the  eternity  of  ex- 
istence, and  we  shall  never  be  wise  nor  happy,  peaceful 
nor  charitable,  useful  in  our  generation,  nor  useful  through 
our  descendants,  to  all  generations,  until  ye  open  the  flood- 
gates of  knowledge,  and  let  her  pure  waters  fertilize  all  the 
land. 

As  preparatory,  then,  to  greater  measures,  and  prophe- 
tic of  extensive  reform,  our  meeting  in  this  place,  on  this 
day,  and  for  our  proposed  object,  may  mark  an  era  in  the 
moral  history  of  the  republic.  The  greatest  events  have 
grown  out  of  the  smallest ;  the  most  important  reforms 
have  been  generated  by  fewer  individuals  than  now  fill 
these  walls,  and  effected  too  in  countries  less  free  to  thought, 
to  speech,  and  to  action,  than  this  favored  land.  Here  all 
is  possible  to  truth  if  sustained  by  perseverance.  In  revo- 
lutionized America  she  has  not  to  contend  with  the  bayo- 


224  HALL   OP   SCIENCE.  [ADDRESS  III. 

net,  nor  to  encounter  the  scaffold  and  the  dungeon.  The 
battle  of  blood  is  here  happily  fought,  and  the  sword  of 
freedom  sheathed,  as  we  trust,  for  ever.  Yet  great  is  the 
victory  she  hath  yet  to  achieve.  It  is  over  the  tyranny  of 
ignorance,  and  the  slavery  of  the  mind.  Noble  be  her 
weapons,  and  spotless  as  her  cause  !  let  her  seek  them  at 
the  hand  of  knowledge,  and  wield  them  in  the  spirit  of 
peace,  of  charity,  and  of  love  to  man. 


225 


[The  following  odes,  written  by  F.  W.  for  the  occasion, 
were  sung  ;  the  first  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the 
address,  the  second  at  its  close.] 

ODE  I. 

Long  have  the  nations  slept :  hark  to  that  sound! 
The  sleep  is  ended,  and  the  world  awakes : 
Man  riseth  in  his  strength  and  looks  around, 
While  on  his  sight  the  dawn  of  reason  breaks. 

Lo !  Knowledge  draws  the  curtain  from  his  mind ; 

Q,uells  Fancy's  visions,  and  his  spirit  tames, 

Deep  in  his  breast  that  law  to  seek  and  find, 

Which  kings  would  write  in  blood,  and  priests  in  flames. 

Shout,  earth !  the  creature  man,  till  now  the  fiw 
Of  thee,  and  all  who  tread  thy  parent  breast, 
Henceforth  shall  learn  himself  and  thee  to  know, 
And  in  that  knowledge  shall  be  wise  and  blest 


ODE  n. 


Oh,  sohs  of  men!  throw  round  your  eyes 
Upon  the  earth,  the  seas,  the  ^es ! 
Say,  doth  not  all,  to  every  sense, 
Show  beauty  and  magnificence  ? 

See  hill  and  vale  with  verdure  spread  ! 
Behold  the  motmtain  lift  his  head. 
In  stature,  strength,  and  power  sublime. 
Unscathed  by  storm,  untouched  by  time ! 

And  see  the  flower  which  gems  the  sward! 
List  to  the  pipe  of  evening  bird — 
The  streams,  the  winds,  the  balmy  breece 
Making  soft  music  with  the  trees. 

29 


226 

And  see  the  glories  of  the  night  I 
The  deep  blue  vault  with  stars  of  lighf^ 
The  silver  clouds,  the  odorous  air — 
All  soft}  and  still,  and  sweet,  and  fair  I 

And  oh  I  that  hour  of  matin  prime, 
The  cool,  the  fresh,  the  joyous  time, 
When  Sol,  as  if  refreshed  by  sleep, 
Springs  blazing  from  the  kindled  deep: 

Then  mark  how  nature  with  delight 
Exults  and  kindles  at  the  sight ; 
Earth,  ocean,  jdr — above,  around, 
All  fuU  of  life,  and  stir,  and  sound ! 


Yes  I  all  unto  the  outward 
Shows  beauty  and  magnificence ; 
All  feir — imless  that  world  we  scan, 
That  moral  world,  as  made  by  man. 

To  all  earth's  blessings  deaf  and  blind, 
Lost  to  himself  and  to  his  kind, 
With  mad  presumption,  lo !  he  tries 
To  pierce  the  ether  of  the  skies. 

ffis  &ncy  wing'd  to  worlds  unknown, 
He  scorns  the  treasures  of  his  own ; 
By  fears  of  hell  and  hopes  of  heaven, 
ffis  nofaii  udnd  to  madness  driven ! 

Oh  I  first  of  all  the  tribes  of  earth. 
Wake  to  a  knowledge  of  thy  worth ; 
Then  mark  the  ills  of  human  life, 
And  heal  its  woes,  and  quench  its  strife. 

Victim  and  tyrant  thou,  oh  man ! 
Thy  world,  thyself,  thy  fellows  scan, 
Nor  forward  cast  an  anxious  eye. 
Who  knows  to  liv^  shall  know  to  die. 


REPLY 

TO  THE 

TRADUCERS  OF  THE  FRENCH  REFORMERS 

OP   THE    YEAR    1789, 

As  given  by  Frances  Wright^  in  the  Park  TTieatre, 
New- York,  January  Z\st,  1829,  at  the  close  of  her 
discourse  on  Religion. 

[Among  the  many  artifices  devised  by  the  clergy  of  New- York, 
during  the  first  and  second  delivery  of  these  discourses,  was  the 
circulation  of  inflammatory  placards  and  pamphlets,  in  which 
the  object  of  the  lecturer  was  represented  to  be  nothing  short  of 
a  universal  insurrection  of  the  people  against,  and  massacre  of, 
themselves.  The  flying  missiles  of  the  tract  house,  were  backed 
by  the  heavier  artillery  of  the  daily  papers ;  when,  upon  the 
night  of  the  meeting  held  in  Tammany  Hall,  in  reprobation  of 
the  memorials  presented  to  congress  for  the  interruption  of  the 
Sunday  mails,  an  article  appeared  in  the  Evening  Post,  which 
occasioned  the  following  reply.  It  was  first  pronounced  at  the 
close  of  the  third  lecture,  and  repeated  on  the  night  of  the 
founh,  for  the  reason  explained  by  the  lecturer.] 

The  subject  which  has  engaged  our  attention  this 
evening,  will  permit  me,  without  irrelevancy,  to  repeat  the 
observations  with  which  I  concluded  my  discourse  of  Sa- 
turday. I  am  influenced  to  this  repetition,  by  the 
knowledge,  that  many  were  prevented  on  that  occasion 
from  attendance,  by  the  public  duty  which  they  were  then 
summoned  to  fulfil,  and  the  style  and  manner  of  whose 
fulfilment  presents  another  evidence  of  the  stirring  spirit 
which  is  abroad,  and  the  radical  reform  in  opinion,  as  in 
practice,  now  in  preparation  fortius  brightest  portion  of  the 


228  EEPLY  TO  THE  TRADUCERS 

civilized  world.  I  am  tempted  to  this  repetition  also,  by 
all  the  crowd  of  solemn  and  sacred  recollections,  which 
the  circumstance  that  elicited  my  observations  of  Saturday 
had  outraged  in  my  bosom ;  and  which,  allied  as  I  have 
been  in  thought  and  feeling  with  the  surviving  veterans  of 
the  French  revolution,  and  with  the  martyred  and  exiled 
patriots  of  Europe's  latter  years,  who  drank  their  inspira- 
tion from  the  heroes  of '89,  challenges  in  me,  from  outraged 
friendship,  no  less  than  from  outraged  truth,  a  reply  as 
public  and  as  bold  as  hath  been  the  slander.  With  the 
view  of  rendering  that  reply  more  public,  I  shall  here 
repeat  it,  and  farther  publish  it  in  the  columns  of  the 
Free  Enquirer. 

True  it  is,  that  the  attack  against  human  liberty,  and 
its  advocates,  which  challenged  my  notice,  stands  not 
singly  and  alone  ;  it  forms  only  an  item  in  the  long  tissue 
of  falsehoods  and  misrepresentations  with  which  the 
annals  of  human  improvement  have  been  sedulously 
^rkened  and  confounded. 

Let  us  listen  to  sermon,  peruse  religious  tract,  or  reli- 
gious essay,  yea,  or  political  journal  under  orthodox  in- 
fluence, or  clerical  dictation,  what  find  we  but  exhortations 
to  passive  obedience  ?  laudatory  apostrophes  to  thrones,  do- 
minations, and  powers  ?  insidious  reflections,  or  open  de- 
nunciations against  enquiry,  under  the  name  of  infidelity; 
against  honest  opinion,  under  the  name  of  heresy ;  against 
self-respecting  virtue,  under  the  name  of  vice ;  against  re- 
sistance to  oppression,  under  the  name  of  sedition ;  and 
against  revolution,  under  the  name  of  rebellion  ?  But  I 
shall  ask  ye,  for  the  moment,  to  look  no  farther  than  the 
editorial  columns  of  the  Evening  Post,  of  Thursday  last, 
in  which,  setting  aside  the  momentary  object,  and  conse- 
quent personal  allusions  of  the  writer,  we  find  him  openly 
advocating  feudal  despotism,  and  classing  poUtical  revolu- 


OF  THE  FRENCH  REFORMERS.  Q29 

tions  among  the  crimes  most  inimical  to  man  and  odious 
to  God. 

This  spiritual  oracle  presents  the  citizens  of  New- York 
with  a  quotation  from  the  speeches  of  Edmund  Burke, 
made  after  that  statesman  had  sold  himself  for  place 
and  pension  to  the  throne  he  had  once  so  boldly  defied. 
In  these  quotations  we  are  presented  with  the  foulest  slan- 
ders against  noble  deeds  and  noble  men  ever  pronounced 
by  traitor  or  slave  1 

Know  the  citizens  of  New- York,  who  fathered  the 
French  revdution  of '89,  thus  upheld  in  their  daily  journals 
to  execration  and  opprobrium  ?  The  virtuous,  the  venera- 
ble, the  venerated  Lafayette.  Know  they  the  principles 
then  proclaimed,  and  to  which  a  BaiUie,  a  La  Rochefou- 
cauld, a  Condorcet,  a  Madame  Roland,  set  the  seal 
of  their  blood  ?  They  were  the  same  signed  by  a  Frank- 
lin, an  Adams,  a  Jefferson,  and  all  the  worthies  of  '76. 
They  were  the  same  to  which  the  people  of  this  land 
stand  pledged  in  life,  property,  and  honor.  And  while 
the  fallen,  the  sold,  the  misguiding  and  misguided  Burke, 
was  thus  confounding  times  and  dates,  blaspheming  glo- 
rious names  and  more  glorious  eras,  perverting  words  and 
perplexing  principles,  were  the  sages  and  heroes  of  '89,  the 
virtuous  men,  and  high-minded  women,  who  had  reared 
in  Europe  the  standard  of  civil  liberty  and  mental  eman- 
cipation, expiring  in  sublime  philosophy  on  the  scaffolds 
of  the  religious — ay  !  of  the  religious  Robespierre  ! 

I  have  thus  again  condescended  upon  the  pages  of  this 
journal,  with  a  view  to  the  exposure  of  the  literary  and 
religious  fraud,  now  carried  on  under  cover  of  the  popular 
ignorance,  through  every  vehicle  of  popular  instruction. 
Not  a  fact  but  is  misinterpreted — not  a  name  but  is  slan- 
dered— not  a  system,  not  a  principle,  not  a  book,  page, 
word,  but  is  travestied,  tortured,  perplexed,  and  beUed, 


230  REPLY  TO  THE  TRADUCERS 

to  serve  the  purposes  of  clerical  ambition,  and  support  a 
system  of  error  and  fraud,  as  inimical  to  the  interest  of 
the  many,  as  it  is  abetting  and  flattering  to  the  preten- 
sions of  the  few. 

And  now,  I  will  ask,  how  that  very  large  portion  of 
the  community,  who  glean  their  only  information  respect- 
ing past  or  present  events,  from  newspapers,  magazines, 
tracts,  and  pamplilets,  all  more  or  less  under  a  similar  in- 
fluence with  the  Evening  Post,  are  to  judge  rightly  re- 
specting things,  or  respecting  men.  I  have  now  in  my  hand, 
a  bill,  or  tract,  I  know  not  how  the  flying  paper  should  be 
designated,  wliich  was  distributed,  among  many  others,  to 
the  citizens  who  attended  the  meeting  at  Tammany  Hall, 
on  Saturday  evening.  In  this  we  find  a  similar  confusion 
of  times  and  circumstances,  causes  and  effects,  as  that 
observed  upon  in  the  Evening  Post.  Here,  again,  all  the 
horrors  acted  in  France,  subsequent  to  the  bright  dawn  of 
the  revolution,  by  an  ignorant  populace,  excited  to  frenzy 
by  the  subtle  emissaries  of  the  British  ministry,  and  by 
the  hired  incendiaries  of  a  discomfited  court,  aristocracy, 
and  priesthood,  are  presented  to  the  uninformed  reader,  as 
the  work  of  pliilosophers  and  pohtical  reformers. 

I  shall  hereafter  take  occasion  to  elucidate  in  the  pages 
of  the  Free  Enquirer,  some  of  the  leading  events  and 
characters  of  the  French  revolution  ;  when  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  virtuous  supporters  of  order,  peace,  brotherly 
union,  and  brotherly  love,  were  the  patriots  and  philoso- 
phers who,  having  raised  the  standard  of  equal  Hberty, 
died  in  its  defence  ;  while  the  ignorant  and  brutal  Robes- 
pierre was  signing  their  death-warrants  in  his  chamber, 
and  decreeing  in  his  legislative  hall,  by  act  of  assembly, 
the  existence  of  a  God,  and  consecrating  a  day  for  his 
especial  worship. 

And  how  shall  the  people  judge  between  wliat  is  and 


OF  THE  FRENCH  REFORMERS.        231 

what  is  not,  until  knowledge  shall  be  present  to  the  mind? 
And  how  shall  knowledge  be  present  to  the  mind,  so  long 
as  faith  is  made  the  only  subject  of  instruction.  Shall, 
then,  the  object  for  which  we  are  met  in  this  place,  be  de- 
feated or  deferred  ?  Shall  knowledge  never  own  a  shrine, 
nor  truth  a  temple  ?  Win  a  free  people  never  pronounce 
the  httle  words,  let  us  enquire  ;  the  modest  and  ra- 
tional words,  let  us  learn  ? 


ANALYTICAL.  TABLES 


OP  CONTENTS. 


Introductory  address  to  the  course^  at  delivered  for  the  second  time  in 
New-  York. — Observations  on  the  violent  spirit  betrayed  by  the  clergy 
and  the  press  under  their  control. — ^Persecution  the  reward  of  reform- 
ers in  all  ages. — Determination  of  the  lecturer  to  persevere  in  her  under- 
taking.— Appeal  from  the  misrepresentations  of  designing  individuals 
to  the  good  sense  of  the  audience,  and  pledge  given  by  the  lecturer  to 
explain,  in  due  order,  her  views  on  all  subjects  connected  with  the  well- 
being  of  humankind. 

LECTURE    I. 

On  the  nature  of  knowledge. — ^Variety  of  opinions  among'  men,  through- 
out  the  world,  and  in  our  own  country. — Q,uestion  started  as  to  what 
constitutes  truth. — Conceived  difBculty  and  real  facility  of  its  solution. 
— ^Nature  of  evidence. — ^True  evidence  to  be  sought  in  accurate  know- 
ledge.— Improvement  the  distinguishing  principle  in  man. — ^In  it  a 
surety  presented  for  the  excellence  and  happiness  of  the  race. — Desire 
of  advancing  in  knowledge  :  universality  and  vagueness  of  the  same. — 
Erroneous  ideas  respecting  the  nature  of  knowledge. — Enquiry  into  its 
real  nature. — Mode  of  its  acquisition. — Simplicity  of  all  true  ideas. — 
Words  the  signs  of  things. — How  mistaken  for  the  things  themselves. — 
Importance  of  taking  aright  the  first  step  in  knowledge. — Confused 
state  of  the  youthful  mind  imder  existing  modes  of  instruction — Effects 
of  college  education  up  to  the  present  time. — ^Unassisted  observation 
better  than  false  learning. — Minute  examination  into  existing  modes 
of  instruction  deferred. — Chief  position  to  be  established  in  the  present 
discourse. — Acquaintance  with  an  object,  how  obtained. — Difference 
between  knowledge  and  belief. — Examples  explanatory  of  the  distinc- 
tion.— Review  of  the  field  of  knowledge. — Divisions  of  the  same. — ^Be- 
lief how  confounded  with  knowledge  in  the  lessons  of  teachers. — Effects 
of  this  on  the  mind  of  the  scholar. — Importance  to  the  rising  genera- 
tion of  discovering  and  adopting  a  rational  method  of  instruction,— 
Effects  to  be  anticipated  from  the  same  on  the  infant  and  adult  mind. — 
Importance  to  the  present  generation,  of  free  and  fearless  enquiry. — 
Erroneous  conceptions  respecting  the  nature  of  knowledge  occaaioathe 

u2  30 


234  ANALYTICAL    TABLE. 

fear  with  which  it  is  often  regarded.— Fearlessness  and  composure  of 
mind  necessary  for  its  acquisition. — These  seldom  possessed. — Alarm 
occasioned  by  enquiry,— Remarks  on  the  place  sissumed  by  the  lecturer 
and  the  motives  which  influence  her. — General  incapacity  of  public 
teachers,  and  causes  of  the  same. — The  peculiar  dependence  of  the 
clergy,  and  their  consequent  inability  to  probe  the  vices  of  the  age. — 
Instance  adduced  from  their  conduct  in  the  slave  states,  as  contrasted 
with  their  conduct  in  the  free  states. — Their  universal  opposition  to 
Bcience  and  all  the  practical  reforms  attendant  upon  its  progress. — Sla- 
very of  the  press  and  all  the  learned  professions. — Importance  to  the 
human  race,  that  individuals  independent  of  patronag-e  and  party, 
should  undertake  the  gxiidance  of  the  human  mind. — Q^ualifications  ne- 
cessary in  such  individuals. — Recapitulation  of  the  topics  embraced  in 
the  discourse. — Concluding-  remarks  to  the  female  part  of  the  audience. 
—Peculiar  influence  exerted  to  prolongs  the  ig-norance  of  the  female  sex. 
■ — ^Appeal  to  the  male  sex  to  consider  the  indirect  effects  of  this  igno- 
rance on  their  own  condition. 

LECTURE    II. 

Of  free  enquiry.— A  just  education  possible  only  for  the  next  generation ; 
accurate  and  dispassionate  investigation  in  the  power  of  the  present. — 
Selfishness  betrayed  by  individuals  in  their  pursuit  of  knowledge.— In- 
consistency of  this  selfishness  with  American  institutions. — Equal  rights 
of  all  to  the  equal  developement  and  exercise  of  the  judgment. — Equal 
or  greater  importance  of  the  same  to  youth  than  to  age,  and  to  women 
than  to  men. — Influence  exercised  by  women. — Mutual  dependence  of 
the  two  sexes,  and  of  all  human  beings  one  upon  the  other. — The  real 
interests  of  all  one  and  the  same. — Impossibility  of  discovering  these 
interests  unless  all  be  engaged  in  their  investigation. — Equality  of  in- 
Btruction  necessary  to  equality  of  rights. — Absence  of  that  equality,  the 
source  of  all  the  false  influences  which  rule  society  in  public  and  pri- 
vate.— Misconceptions  respecting  the  meaning  of  the  word  equality, 
and  explanations  on  the  same.— Examinations  into  the  nature  of  liberty. 
— ^How  the  ssune  is  violated. — Instance  adduced  from  the  government  of 
children,— Duties  of  the  parent  and  rights  of  the  child  exhibited.— The  hu- 
man race  more  especially  interested  in  the  enfranchisement  of  the  female 
mind. — Inconsistency  of  the  arguments  commonly  presented  against  the 
personal  independence  and  intellectual  cultivation  of  women. — ^No  sex 
in  knowledge,  and  no  mystery  in  truth. — Mystifications  in  science  gene- 
rated by  false  learning,  professional  dishonesty,  and  competition. — To 
simplify  knowledge  in  all  its  branches  and  applications  free  enquiry 
indispensable. — ^Past  and  present  effects  of  free  enquiry  on  the  condition 
of  man. — ^Man  always  in  a  progressive  state. — Remarkable  epochs  in 
his  progress.— The  greatest  yet  to  come. — Enquiry  challenged— by 
whom.— Problem  to  be  settled  by  enquiry  at  the  present  time. — Summa- 
ry of  the  topics  embraced  in  the  discoure. 


ANALYTICAL    TABLE.  235 


LECTURE    III. 

Of  the  more  important  divisions  and  essential  parts  of  knowledge. — First 
great  division. — Relation  in  which  we  stand  to  all  that  surrounds  us. — 
Identity  of  the  simple  elements  of  things ;  their  duration  and  varying 
appearjince,  as  decided  by  position. — Order  of  nature's  phenomena,  and 
our  connexion  with  the  same. — If  rightly  explained  to  the  young"  mind, 
advance  in  knowledge  rapid  and  pleasant. — How  different  at  the  present 
time. — Simplicity  of  the  table  of  just  knowledge. — Actual  impossibility 
of  developing  the  same  without  a  reference  to  existing  errors. — Apology 
for  the  necessity  of  employing  unmeaning  words,  and  discussing  imma- 
ginary  subjects. — Subdivisions  of  the  two  first  divisions  of  knowledge. 
Importance  of  those  embraced  under  the  first  head. — Enumeration  of 
the  subjects  of  leading  importance  found  under  the  second. — All  easy 
of  attainment — Why.— Nevertheless  rendered  difficult. —Difficulties 
lessened  by  the  labors  of  enlightened  individuals. — Important  step  now 
made. — Much  knowledge  necessary  previous  to  an  examination  of  our 
opinions. — What  knowledge  in  particular. — Importance  of  acquiring 
the  same, — Order  in  which  it  should  be  acquired. — Time  for  its  acqui- 
sition ample.— Time  and  money  how  wasted  at  present.— Important 
subject  for  the  exercise  of  free  enquiry. — Leisure  hours  and  leisure 
day  how  employed;  buildings,  why  raised,  and  teachers  salaried. — 
Apology  to  the  audience  for  risking  the  wounding  of  their  feelings. — 
Reference  to  the  influence  of  the  clergy. — Necessity  of  exposing  their 
incapacity. — Hyprocrisy  engendered  by  the  habits  of  existing  society. — 
This  more  or  less  experienced  by  every  one ;  in  the  highest  degree  by 
the  clergy. — ^Peculiarity  of  their  situation. — Instance  of  honesty  in  one 
of  that  body. — Consequences  of  the  same. — Fault  less  in  individuals 
than  in  their  situation. — Motives  which  induce  the  lecturer  to  probe  the 
popular  prejudices. — Possibility  of  knowledge  by  faith  questioned. — Its 
impossibility  exhibited,  and  its  inutility  under  the  supposition  of  its 
possibility. — ^Propriety  of  hiring  teachers  to  teach  impossibilities  ques- 
tioned.— Inapplicability  of  all  spiritual  lessons  to  human  life  and  hu- 
man beings. — Lecturer  deprecates  the  idea  of  questioning  the  opinions 
of  her  hearers  or  dictating  others. — Exhorts  to  examination  and  enqui- 
ry.— Spiritual  teachers  warn  against  the  same. — Their  counsels  suspi- 
cious.— Questions  for  them  suggested  to  their  hearers. — Encouragement 
to  examine  without  fear,  and  to  exert  each  his  own  judgment. — Claim 
of  the  clergy  as  moral  teachers  considered. — ^Disproved. — Appeal  to 
their  followers  to  exchange  spiritual  dreamers  for  experimental  philoso- 
phers ;  churches  for  halls  of  science ;  to  calculate  expenses  and  examine 
effects  of  existing  religious  system;  to  compare  value  with  cost,  and 
strike  balance. — Importance  of  such  examination. — Twenty  millions 
expended  to  make  us  foolish. — If  righty  expended,  the  effects  on  the 
population. — Inefficacy  of  preaching  against  vice. — Real  cure  for  the 
same. — This  never  supplied  by  the  clergy. — Their  knowledge  that  of 
things  unseen.— Their  virtue  based  on  depravity.— Theory  unworthy 


236  ANALYTICAL   TABLE. 

of  freemen. — Baleful  effects  of  the  same. — ^Vindication  of  human  na- 
ture.— Man's  noble  energies  how  evinced. — Appeal  to  Americans  to 
evince  them  farther. — To  improve  their  liberty  by  means  of  knowledg-e, 
and  to  seek  knowledg-e  in  the  world  they  occupy. — Exhortations  to  the 
study  of  nature. — To  rely  on  the  powers  of  the  human  understanding. — 
To  examine  each  for  himself,  and  to  question  the  infallibility  both  of 
books  and  teachers. — Advantages  of  material  science. — Truths  exhibited 
when  asserted. — Examples. — Prevalent  notion  that  some  truths  exist 
apart  from  our  physicad  sen&ations. — Falsity  of  the  notion  exposed. — 
Exhortation  to  weigh  the  words  of  tlie  lecturer ;  to  go  to  church  and 
to  weigh  the  words  of  the  clergy. — Warmth  of  tlie  lecturer,  and  where- 
fore. — Invitations  to  associate  for  the  acquisition  of  sound  knowledge,  and 
to  raise  a  popular  edifice  for  popular  assemblies. — Proposal  for  a  pattern 
school  of  industry  for  children,  attached  to  a  haU  of  science  for  adults. — 
Advantages  from  the  same,  equal  for  the  poor  and  the  rich. — Common 
nature,  wants,  and  interests,  of  all  human  kind, — Exhortations  to  unite 
in  the  courts  of  knowledge. — To  exchange  declaimers  for  instructors, 
wise  guides  for  ignorant  threateners,  and  consistent  science  for  incon- 
sistent faiths. — Summary  of  the  topics  embraced  in  the  three  first  lec- 
tures, and  subject  of  the  next  set  forth. 

LECTURE    IV. 

Of  religion. — Its  engrossing  character. — Lecturer's  desire  not  to  wound 
the  feelings,  or  arouse  the  prejudices. — Reasons  for  approaching  the 
subject. — Knowledge  obtained  by  the  senses. — Erroneous  modes  of 
teaching  science. — Ancient  Greeks  false  logicians,  because  ignorant  of 
ph3rBical  science. — Grecian  logic  still  retained. — Aristotle. — Pestalozzi. 
— Enemies  of  human  improvement  more  quick  sighted  than  its  friends. 
— Rational  education  unfavorable  to  loyalty  and  credulity. — Definition 
of  knowledge. — Is  religion  a  science  7 — Its  cost. — Are  its  trutlis  appa- 
rent,— Where  shall  it  be  classed. — Knowledge  not  human  of  slippery 
foundation. — What  is  religion. — Revelation  by  special  favor. — Exhorta- 
tion to  leave  things  unseen  for  knowledge. — Lecturer's  creed. — Turn- 
ing churches  into  halls  of  science. — Splitting  of  sects. — Lecturer  igno- 
rant of  unearthly  phenomena. — Jesus' s  mode  of  prayer  recommended 
to  the  pious.— Deprecation  of  intention  to  wound. — Test  of  books  and 
teachers. 

LECTURE    V. 

Morals, — ^Necessity  of  clearing  the  threshold  of  knowledge. — Religion 
excluded  as  unreal  and  furnishing  no  just  rule  of  life. — If  there  be  a 
true  religion,  who  has  it  1 — If  religion  deceive,  what  rule  shall  guide 
us  7 — The  rule  of  morals. — Little  progress  in  the  science  of  morals 
since  the  early  days  of  Greece  and  Rome. — Modern  morals  based  on 
religion.— Definition  of  morals.— A  simple  rule.— Definition  of  religion. 


ANALYTICAL  TABLE.  237 

—Religion  and  morals  distinct.— Religion  never  a  source  of  virtu^ 
even  when  the  religionist  is  virtuous. — Relig-ion  takes  its  spirit  and 
character  from  the  individual  spirit  and  character  of  each  of  its  pro- 
fessors.— Virtue  springing-  not  in  religion,  but  in  the  human  heart.— Of 
fear  as  a  motive  to  virtue. — A  knowledge  of  true  morals  derived  through 
our  sensations. — What  produces  morality  7~Test  Of  moral  precepts. — 
Two  great  divisions  of  morals;  separate  yet  blending. — Usages  of 
society,  not  nature,  to  blame.— Propriety  not  found  in  extremes.— Con- 
nexion and  importance  of  the  sciences-— Self  interest  alone  might 
teach  virtue;  but  selfish  calculations  superceded  by  cultivated  sensi- 
bilities.— Negative  virtue. — Object  of  a  just  education  to  produce  ac- 
tive virtue. — Lamentable  influences  on  the  youthful  mind.— Organiza- 
tion charged  with  evils  which  spring  from  ignorant  instruction  alone- 
Enlightened  guides  should  replace  dogmatical  teachers.— Simplicity  of 
the  science.— Summary. — Moral  principle. — Divisions  of  morals.— Each 
branch  must  be  developed  as  opportunity  oflFers  in  coxmexion  and  in 
order.  — Conclusion. 

LECTURE    VI. 

JF\)rmation  of  opinions. — Importance  of  the  subject,  and  consequences  to 
be  anticipated  from  a  just  understanding  of  the  same. — ^Persecution  for 
opinion. — Review  of  its  dreadful  eflfects. — Examination  of  its  cause. — 
Meaning  of  the  term  opinion. — Truth  or  error  of  opinions  determined 
by  the  greater  or  less  degree  of  our  knowledge. — Singular  inconsistency 
in  human  feeling. — Anger  generated  not  against  facts  but  the  conclu- 
sions which  they  generate. — Absurdity  of  this  anger. — ^What  conduct 
would  be  rational  in  cases  of  difference  of  opinion.— Only  method  by 
which  to  induce  a  change  in  opinion.— Sacredness  of  mental  liberty, 
how  violated. — Ignorance  of  the  nature  of  an  opinion,  not  the  only 
cause  of  opinionative  persecution. — This  unknown  in  countries  without  a 
priesthood.  — Instances  thereof. — Religion  should  be  left  alone. — Know- 
ledge, not  opinions,  should  be  taught.— The  people  encourage  the  teach- 
ing of  opinions  at  home  and  abroad.— Honest  opinions  never  culpable. — 
Bitterness  of  sectarianism.— Advantages  of  union.— Persecution. — Its 
nature  and  consequences.— The  clergy  denounced  as  a  body,  though 
sometimes  amiable  as  individuals. — Secret  influences  more  powerful 
than  open  force. — The  stage. — The  people's  day  of  leisure.— Spirit  that 
persecuted  Jesus,  still  abroad. — Jesus  would  be  ill  received  by  modern 
religionists. — Churches  of  faith  and  schools  of  knowledge. — Lecturer 
of  no  sect.— Signs  of  the  times.— A  substitute  for  ancient  errors  re- 
quired.—Knowledge  alone  leads  to  just  practice. 

LECTURE    VII. 
Existing  evils,  and  their  remeciy.— Summary  of  the  topics  embraced  in 
preceding  lectures,  and  subject  of  the  present. — Ignorance  the  source  of 
evils. — The  people  the  true  reformers. — ^Who  are  addressed  7— Distress. — 


238  ANALYTICAL   TABLE. 

Imitation  of  Europe—Small  progress  in  reform  since  1776.— Republican 
anomalies. — Forms  and  principles. — Practical  freedom  and  equality. — 
Reality  of  evils. — Philadelphia  report. — No  effectual  remedy  found. — 
Reform  gradual. — DiflBculties  in  the  way  of  a  popular  effort  to  correct 
existing-  evUs. — Practical  prejudices. — Appeal  to  the  rich.— Parental 
anxieties  universal. — Their  cure  sug-gested,  and  the  first  measure 
towards  the  remedy  of  existing-  evils  pointed  out. — Great  measure  of 
national  education.— Common  schools  inefficient. —Plan  of  national  in- 
stitutions.—Educational  tax. — Promise  of  further  developement.~Ex- 
hortation  to  radical  reform  through  the  state  legislatures. 

ADDRESS  I. 
Celebration  of  fourth  of  July,  1828.— Reasonable  to  rejoice  on  the  day.— 
Fourth  of  July,  1776,  a  new  era-~Change,  the  distinctive  attribute  of 
American  institutions.— Change,  the  harbinger  of  improvement.— Im- 
portance of  constitutional  provision  for  reform. — One  liberty. — National 
advantages  we  possess. — Much  to  be  done. — Patriotism  only  condition- 
ally a  virtue.— Ancient  patriotism.— Misnamed  patriotism.— Selfish 
patriotism. — Patriotism  of  a  citizen  of  the  world  suitable  for  America. — 
Mischiefs  of  exclusive  patriotism.— Duties  of  Americans. — Character  of 
rational  rejoicing. 

ADDRESS    II. 

Celebration  of  fourth  of  July,  1829.— Reminiscences  of  the  day.— Martial 
pageantry  out  of  character.— Peaceful  be  its  celebration.— Lecturer's 
task  to  counsel,  not  to  flatter. — America  little  known  until  she  declared 
her  independence. — America  now  the  refuge  of  liberty. — Hopes  enter- 
tained of  her  as  a  nation  of  self-governing  citizens. — Her  citizens  re- 
eponsible  for  national  delinquencies. — Their  responsibility  how  fulfilled. 
— ^Reproof- Fate  of  America,  fate  of  the  world.— National  institutions. 
— Elective  franchise  virtually  forfeited. — The  press. — Its  temptations  to 
venality.— A  promise  kept— Two  positions  on  which  rest  the  fabric  of 
American  government.— The  people  being-  governors,  should  be  fitted  to 
g-overn. — Before  legislation  should  come  instruction.— Education  the 
foundation  of  a  republic. — Omission  on  the  part  of  the  first  framers  of 
American  constitutional  law.— America  following  Europe's  footsteps. — 
Appeal  to  America's  charter  of  independence. — The  raising  of  churches 
and  jails  should  give  place  to  works  of  charity,  and  labors  of  education. 
— All  rational  law  and  virtue  involved  in  education.—Liberty  and 
equality  to  be  built  up  in  the  mind. — National  education,  sole  means  of 
human  happiness.— Exhortation  to  supply  it. 

ADDRESS  III. 

Object  of  assembling.— Purpose  of  the  Hall.— Popular  reluctance  to  be- 
come ftimple  pupils.— Danger  within,  not  without.— Courag-e  of  wisdom 


ANALYTICAL   TABLE.  239 

Necessity  to  examine  the  object  proposed.— Statement  of  that  object.— 
All  learners. — Learning-  and  knowledge. — Spiritual  existences. — World- 
ly researches  suitable  for  the  Hall  of  Science. — Faith  should  not  be  pub- 
lished.— DogTnas  often  discarded  and  dogmatism  retained. — Religious 
discussions.— To  distinguish  truth  better  than  to  expose  error,  and  to 
examine  facts  them  to  teach  opinions.— Man's  willingtiess  to  be  bridled. 
— Certain  science  interrupted  by  spiritual  questions. — Science  the  con- 
cern of  all.—Philosophy  not  gloomy  nor  mysterious. — Hall  of  science 
for  the  teaching  of  knowledge,  not  the  discussion  of  opinions.— Hall 
open  to  all  respectable  teachers. — Place  of  refuge  promised  to  ortho- 
doxy if  persecuted.— Reasons  for  studying-  ourselves  rather  than  dis- 
cussing religion. — Field  of  himian  knowledge  extensive. — Science  of 
human  life. — Science  of  human  life  should  replace  religion.— Its  fitness 
for  discussion. — ^Variety  of  subjects  for  enquiry. — ^Day  of  knowledge, 
though  distant,  is  approaching ;  and  with  it  freedom  and  virtue. — Liberty 
for  one,  liberty  for  alL— National  schools.— Great  events  from  small  be- 
ginnings.— Conclxision. 


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